Sanguine
by Vellichor29
Summary: A year has passed since Dr. Freeman and King had been extinguished and some are still trying to pick up the shattered pieces. And yet, Jurassic World endured. But a new threat is on the horizon and it targets the park's new inhabitants… but it's not revenge he's after, rather merely restoring what was lost.
1. Chapter 1

Prologue:

Author's Note:

 **I thought long and hard about what to say for this author's note. Should I say something? Do I** ** _need_** **to say something? I probably should… so here it is. The sequel you've all been waiting for: Tedium part two, Sanguine. Now, I shouldn't have to say this, but those of you who picked up the story without any idea of what you're getting into, I would suggest reading Tedium first.**

 **It's been a while since I've written for Jurassic World, though thoughts of this story never left my mind. I would just like to thank those who have been patient waiting for this story. And I would like to doubly thank those who went and read the two stories I had been working to finish before I started this one (I got a very good response to those stories). I have a story board up and ready to go, nothing's standing in my way, so it should be smooth sailing.**

 **Now, before I begin this story, I would like to introduce a special guest. Many of you might've noticed him (if you read the reviews to my stories, or pay attention when I talk about him in my author's notes) and recognize him as a frequent reviewer. That's right, I found him… or he found me (the real me) and he convinced me to let him help write this intro. So, say hello to Dragon-God!**

 _Right… hi everyone. I've actually known Vellichor for quite a while, but I didn't realize who it was writing all these magnificent stories until recently._

 **How did you figure out it was me again?**

 _Oh, come on… you named one of your characters with your middle name. It wasn't that hard to figure out it was you. Plus… I saw you logging into your account on your phone a few weeks ago. After a brief confrontation, I was invited to come and help with this author's note!_

 **Invited? You forced my hand… whatever. Why don't you give them a taste of what they're in for?**

 _Taste? You only let me look at your story board… is it even in English?!_

 **Not all of it.**

 _Well there ya go folks, I'm just about as blind as you are. From what I could understand, we separate into several different story lines fairly quickly in this one. Is this one going to be as confusing as the last?_

 **I doubt it. The story lines start out separate, but come back together and start to cross with each other very early on. Anyways, Dragon-God may or may not be coming back to help with other Author Notes, because apparently… I'm bad at them.**

 _I didn't say that._

 **Well you implied it. Our story doesn't actually start where the last one left off. Instead, we start off a few days before the beginning of Tedium in a military base somewhere on the continental United States…**

XXX

 _How standeth the pawn before the king?_

Alarms blared throughout the compound as soldiers rushed into position. Confusion ran rampant through the ranks of soldiers, no one had any idea what was going on. But they armed themselves diligently and prepared for the worst. All they knew was that the alarm was not a drill.

A contingency of ten soldiers waited by the door to the compound, guns trained on the entrance. They had locked down the building, but anyone stupid enough to attack a United States military base was tenacious enough not to be dissuaded by a locked door. Seconds ticked by, the soldiers never taking their sights off the door.

There were no other entrances to the compound, whoever, or whatever, was attacking would have to come through this door. Several of the soldiers began to sweat nervously, the alarms had stopped. None of them made any sounds as they waited for the all clear signal.

The compound was divided into two different sections. There were several floors above ground that were a simple, normal military base filled with soldiers, tanks, and aircraft… but below ground was a completely different story. Whatever was attacking was definitely aiming for the underground part of the facility, unless they were apprehended or killed in the fight above ground.

 _A shattered soul_

There was a loud bang as a dent appeared in the door. The soldiers unclicked their safeties and took aim. Another dent appeared, then another, and another, before the door was blasted off its hinges. The soldiers immediately open fired into the doorway. The sounds of automatic weapons firing filled the air as each soldier emptied their clips before finally halting.

But there had been no screams of pain, no sounds of bullets dinging off metal walls, and no sounds of bodies hitting the floor. They hadn't just missed… it seemed as if their bullets had just vanished, not hitting even the walls of the compound. In their confusion, they didn't reload their weapons nor investigate, they just sat there wondering what had happened.

Two of the soldiers, realizing something was off, began to back up from the rest of the group. They managed to duck around a corner just as every single round the soldiers had fired came flying back at them at immense speeds, tearing them to shreds and killing all but the two who had backed off. Sounds of blood splattering against the walls and the screams of the dying penetrated the air, instilling an even greater fear within the surviving soldiers.

They let their empty clips fall from their guns before reloading new ones, preparing to stand their ground. One soldier, an older man with graying hair and a grizzled scar running down his face, turned to the other, younger, one, "You need to alert the commander! I don't know why the alarms stopped, but we're not out of the woods yet!"

The younger soldier nodded and ran off down one of the many halls, searching for his commanding officer. They would have to pack up and flee, whatever was attacking them couldn't be stopped by guns. The older soldier took a deep breath and peaked around the corner, gripping his weapon tightly.

His eyes widened when he saw a man in a gray suit step around the bodies, flanked by a girl with blonde hair and a very tall Native American man. Behind them was only a few other soldiers, dressed in all black. _Mercenaries,_ the soldier thought to himself, taking another breath. He jumped out of cover and opened fire on the man in the gray suit. Whoever that man was… was the one leading the attack.

He fired until his gun clicked, signaling he was out of ammo. He lowered the weapon, expecting to see the man in the gray suit down on the ground, covered in bullet holes, but that was not the case. Instead, the blonde-haired girl had stretched her arm and halted his bullets in midair.

 _A broken mind_

The man in the gray suit raised an eyebrow at the sight of the soldier. "Hmm… try not to break him too much, my dear. He did a very brave thing, standing up to us like that," he said with a smirk.

The girl returned that vicious grin and snapped her fingers, causing one of the bullets to turn around in the air. The soldier only had time to widen his eyes before that bullet became embedded in his skull, sending his deceased corpse to the ground with all the others. _At least he managed to alert the commander,_ was the last thought to go through his head.

The man in the gray suit turned to address his army, "Spread out, search the compound. Remember, we're looking for an experimental wave generator known as Theta-X. Radio when you find it." The mercenaries saluted and began to walk down the many hallways leading deeper into the compound.

"Where are we going, sir?" the girl asked, letting out a breath as she let the rest of the bullets drop to the ground, bringing her arm back to her side.

"We're going to have a word with the commander," the man said, going down the one hallway none of the other mercenaries had gone down. The hallway the only soldier from before had escaped down.

 _A decayed heart_

The mercenaries continued to split up into smaller and smaller groups as they searched for the storage rooms of the compound. None of them were exactly sure where the prototype was, but they would turn the entire compound upside down to find it. The compound stretched deep underground, two of the mercenaries made it about a half mile underground.

There were stairs everywhere, always leading down, dragging them further and further into the depths of the building. The two had figured that the most valuable items would be the deepest underground. But the hallway they were traveling through turned into a fork in the road.

The two looked at each other, shrugged, and split up even further. One of these hallways had to lead to the very deepest of the building. The man was becoming tired of the constant white color of the walls, it was all very bland. He rubbed his eyes tiredly, he had spent the last few days traveling to the compound only to not have to fire a single shot.

He had never even bothered to pull his weapon from his back, the girl had done all the hard work. They had just walked through the upper compound without a single scratch, nor firing a single shot. The girl just redirected their enemies' bullets right back at them. If he had known that he was just going to be searching for a prototype, he wouldn't have signed on. At least the pay was good.

At last, the mercenary came to a massive, steel door. The door wasn't locked, in fact, it couldn't even lock from the inside. The lock was on the outside. But it didn't matter, as the door wasn't even closed all the way. The mercenary raised an eyebrow and finally pulled the gun from his back. The door had been shut haphazardly, open just a small amount. He released the safety on his weapon, recognizing that someone must've just been here. They could still be inside, or coming back.

He nudged the door open with his foot and stepped into the room. The lights in the room were sparking, flashing on and off. The mercenary narrowed his eyes and flicked on his flashlight attachment as the lights sparked on and off again. Even when the lights were off, there was still a red glow from the machines and computers littering the room.

The room itself was strange, there were big tubes lining the walls and computers all over the place. It looked like something out of a science fiction movie. Most of the tubes were empty, but several had people floating inside. _Cryogenic storage,_ the man recognized from the blue glow of the active tubes. He had thought this technology was too far off.

One of the tubes was open, however, which was the cause of the red glow. The mercenary walked over to the open tube to see the monitor attached to it flashing a warning alert. He stared at the alert in confusion, why was this tube open? What had been inside?

Whatever had happened here, the prototype wasn't here. The soldier snorted, he had wasted his time, and turned to head back to the surface. Hopefully his comrades had had more success. The lights sparked one last time before going out completely, leaving the mercenary with nothing but his flashlight and the red glow from the warnings on all the computers.

He walked briskly towards the door, the dead atmosphere of the room starting to get to him. Whatever happened here had happened recently, and he didn't want to stick around. Suddenly, something appeared in front of his sights, being illuminated by his flashlight. Surprised, the soldiers halted and fired a warning shot that whizzed right by the figure.

The figure raised his hands, screaming, "Woah, woah! Don't shoot!" The mercenary didn't fire again, but didn't lower his weapon. The figure was a man in a white lab coat, a researcher for the military base. The mercenary remembered his employer being firm about not killing any of the researchers, if they couldn't find the prototype, they would be able to help.

"We have to go… we have to go… we let it out," the researcher said, gulping and backing up towards the door.

"What happened here?" the mercenary asked, following the researcher towards the door. He was still getting weird vibes from the room, and he just wanted out.

The researcher shook his head, "No… we let it out… we need to lock it in here!" He panicked, backing even closer towards the door. The mercenary only let out a confused sound before _something_ leapt from the shadows, grabbing the researcher, and dragging him back into the darkness.

The mercenary jumped backwards before flicking his gun in every direction, trying to spot the researcher again. _Whatever had jumped him must've been in the tube,_ the man rationed, slowly making his way towards the door. His breathing became heavy, as his eyes darted all around, his flashlight doing its best to illuminate as much of the room as possible.

A scream drew his attention to his left. He heard low growling and scraping sounds along with the screaming. And he heard a voice, deep, but smooth, like velvet, _"You should've let me sleep."_ A horrible cracking sound filled the air as the screams were silenced. The mercenary's own screams penetrated the silence as he fired a few rounds in the direction he heard the snapping coming from.

Then nothing except his own breathing. Sweat dripped down into his eyes, but he did his best to ignore it as he kept sweeping the area with his gun, looking for whatever had taken the researcher. He didn't notice the glowing red eyes until it was too late.

 _It was free_

Meanwhile, the man in the gray suit, plus company, made their way towards where they thought the commanding officer was stationed. They made it down the winding hallways, ignoring many of the twists and turns that lead to dead ends. They eventually made their way to a door, shut and locked tight.

The man in the gray suit sighed, "It seems we took a wrong turn. This might be what we're looking for, however." He waved his hand and the girl stepped forward. The girl extended her arm and closed her eyes. Dents began to appear on the steel before the door was blasted open.

The trio stepped into the room only for each and every person in the room to turn and look at them. "Nope, this isn't it either," the man in the gray suit sighed. The men in white lab coats began to panic and race to set off alarms, but they suddenly found themselves held into place, unable to move.

Their eyes turned glassy as the trio stepped slowly out of the room and began to backtrack. The researchers turned to each other when they regained the ability to move, questioning what had happened. They had suffered a loss of memory.

"I ripped a map from one of their minds," the girl said, the man in gray nodded. She took the lead, directing the trio through the maze-like hallways, searching for the commander's room. They made it to yet another steel door, however this one was labeled. A large star was painted in green on the door, marking it as the commander's office.

The man in the gray suit opened the door slowly, knowing that it would be unlocked. He and his comrades stepped into the room, hoping to have a chat with the commanding officer, but the room seemed to be empty. At least at first glance. The girl raised her hand up to her mouth in shock as the man in the gray suit took a step backwards, though the tall man showed no reaction to what had happened.

There was a severed head laying on the commander's desk. Body parts had been tossed haphazardly around the rather large room, a leg in one corner and an arm in another. A sharp gasp drew the trio's attention from the eviscerated soldier towards the desk. The man in the gray suit walked over to the desk and saw a soldier laying against the back way, bleeding heavily from the chest.

"You… you're the ones raiding this compound," the soldier managed to gasp out, groaning and clutching his wound harder.

"Yes," the man in the gray suit answered simply, "We need to speak to the commanding officer."

The soldier managed to grin, despite his current state, "You're lookin' at him." He watched the surprise spread across the man's face before choking on blood. "It's too late, you're doomed."

The man in the gray suit's expression grew dark, "I believe that we can handle ourselves. Where is the prototype Theta-X?" Someone had gotten here first and slaughtered a soldier and the commander. The man realized that he needed to get what he wanted and get out.

The commander only grinned, "Doomed…" before collapsing against the wall. The man growled and stood up and walked back to his comrades.

"I got it," the girl said, taking the lead once more. The man sighed, nothing was ever easy. The trio walked out of the commander's office, more than a bit disappointed that they were unable to rectify their current situation. The girl halted in her step, causing the others to halt as well. The man raised an eyebrow as she turned around and said, "One of them found it."

The man nodded and said, "Back to the rendezvous point, then." He took the lead back and changed direction towards the door they had came through.

 _The void that consumes all_

The trio made it closer and closer to the exit before they were stopped by one of their own mercenaries. "Stop!" the mercenary shouted, "Don't go that way!" As he spoke those words, the lights went off, before coming back on red. The compound had entered a state of emergency.

"What are you talking about? That's the only way out," the man in the gray suit said calmly, ignoring the man's panic.

"There's something… something… out there," the man sobbed, collapsing to his knees. The girl raised an eyebrow as the man approached the mercenary. She and the tall Native American man followed closely behind.

Her eyes widened when she saw what had happened to him. Bones jutted out at wrong angles, she could see one of his ribs. One of his entire arms had been torn off, blood dripping onto the floor loudly, so loudly she wondered why she hadn't heard it before. His jaw had been offset, as if something had hit him very, very hard.

He grabbed ahold of the man in the gray suit, despite being on his knees and only reaching the man's waist. Red stained the man's perfect suit, causing him to grimace, as the downed mercenary kept trembling and stuttering. The girl turned her attention from the man and towards the hallway that lead to the exit.

She closed her eyes and opened her ears, willing her hearing to become more powerful. She couldn't hear anything nor could she sense anything. Whatever had done this to the man was no longer there. "Calm down, what's out there," the man in the gray suit said. He looked over at the blonde girl, but she only shook her head. She had no idea what the man was muttering about.

"We found the prototype… we were all there waiting for you. Then… _something_ showed up, killing all of us. I-I-I'm all that's left, sir," the man managed to choke out. Blood seeped from his mouth, causing the girl to make a retching sound, though she did not throw up.

The man turned to the girl with a questioning look on his face. She only shook her head, "I don't sense anything, if he's telling the truth, we need to leave before it comes back." The man nodded in confirmation, rounding the corner with the girl and the tall man close behind him. They left the mercenary behind, he was already too far gone to save. He died only a few minutes later.

 _Bleed from the wound_

It was as if they had stepped into a horror movie. Crimson stained the walls as bodies were piled on the ground. There were the soldiers the girl had killed before, but now the mercenaries that the man had brought with him joined the soldiers in death. Their necks had been bent at odd angles, some with holes punched through their chests, many with missing limbs. Bullet casings littered the ground, as if the mercenaries had put up a fight, but whatever they were fighting was too much for them.

The man at first thought it had been a group of soldiers that had done this, but none of the wounds on their bodies looked as if a gun had done it. That… and there was a young man holding one of the mercenaries up against the wall by his neck. The young man was shirtless, though he did wear a pair of jeans, and his bare chest was covered in blood. He had been killing the mercenaries with only his two hands.

The man glared at this super soldier, trying to figure out who he was. The shirtless soldier turned to glance at the man with ravenous red eyes. A toothy grin spread across his face as he snapped the neck of the mercenary he was holding against the wall and stepped away, letting the corpse fall to the ground.

The shirtless soldier turned to face the man in the gray suit fully, "So… you're the one attacking the compound. I must thank you for that, otherwise they would've never seen fit to _free me_." His voice was a deep baritone, almost like a low hiss.

The man in the gray suit didn't respond to him, but turned to the girl and said simply, "Kill him." The girl nodded, stepping forward to face the shirtless man. The man in question only raised an eyebrow, smirking wider when the girl raised her hand towards him.

His eyes widened when he realized what the girl was trying to do. A look of concentration firmly on her face, she tried to make him collapse with her mind. But… something was off. It wasn't working. She was calling on her power, but it didn't seem to be doing anything to him. So she tried something else, willing him to fly backwards with telekinesis.

The man burst out laughing when nothing continued to happened. Her eyes popped open as she regarded the laughing man. His laugh was sinister and cruel, mocking her for failing. She grimaced and this time called upon a different power. Flames flew from her fingertips, washing over the man and lighting the other corpses on fire.

 _Fall from the light_

But the laughter never ceased. The man completely ignored the fire surrounding him, only laughing harder and harder as she tried to burn him to a crisp. And yet, nothing worked. Eventually, he grew tired of standing in the flames and pounced on her, grabbing her arm and forcing to stop her attack. His other hand grasped at her neck before he turned and slammed her into the wall.

A dent appeared from the impact and she went limp in his arms. He didn't have time to finish her, however, as the tall Native American man stepped towards him with a fist raised to strike him. The shirtless soldier dropped the girl and spun around just in time to catch the tall man's fist. The soldier bared his teeth as he pulled the tall man down on his level and struck him with all his might.

The tall man's head snapped backwards from the impact, his expression finally changing from the neutral mask to one of surprise as he flew backwards from the force of the blow. He slammed against one of the walls, but quickly righted himself. The soldier let out a feral roar and launched himself at the tall man.

The Native American man attempted to punch him again, as he did not carry a firearm, but the soldier only redirected the punch with two fingers, before striking him on the shoulder with only his fingers. The tall man's arm went limp; the strike had paralyzed him. He tried to strike the soldier again, but the shirtless man only ducked under the punch, grabbed his arm, and poked him again with two fingers, turning that arm limp as well.

He grabbed the tall man by the neck and slammed him against the steel wall, causing a loud dinging sound. He then dropped the tall man to the ground, having knocked him unconscious and then turned to face the man in the gray suit.

The man in the gray suit was helping the girl up from the ground. She had not been knocked out like the tall man had been, but her head was spinning from the impact. _"I can't sense him… it's like he's not even there,"_ the girl whispered into the man's ear as he helped her up.

 _"_ _So he's a psychic as well?"_ the man whispered back. He glanced over at the shirtless soldier, he didn't have a scratch on him. Despite his mercenaries undoubtedly firing at him and his encounter with the tall man, he was completely unharmed. And the soldier wasn't built like a tank either, he was well-muscled, but lean. How could he be so fast and strong?

 _"_ _I don't think so…"_ the girl whispered when she made it to her feet. She clutched her head as she wobbled slightly, but didn't fall back down. _"I don't sense anything coming from him, it's like he doesn't even exist. And when he touched me… I felt… cold."_

The shirtless soldier stared at the man in the gray suit, grin firmly entrenched on his face. The girl stepped forward, intent on trying to fight again, but the man only waved her off. "Who are you?" the man in the gray suit said, approaching the soldier, no matter how loudly his instincts screamed to stay away.

 _Lost the forest through the trees_

The soldier parted his jaws and began to laugh once again, a soul piercing, hollow sound. He threw his head back as his laughter only grew in volume, beginning to lose structure and become insanity itself. Until he suddenly ceased laughing and let out a deep breath. Looking back at the man in the gray suit, eyes blazing, he cracked his neck and stepped closer to the man, noticing how much taller he was than the intruder.

"I am what's left… or perhaps I'm all that ever was," was all the soldier said. The man only growled in frustration, the soldier had refused to answer the question. "You allowed me to be freed, so I must truly thank you… for that, I shall spare you your lives and allow you to walk free with what you came for," he continued, walking away from the man and reaching down into the pockets of one of the fallen mercenaries. He pulled out a small box labeled as Theta-X and presented it to the man.

"I know what prey you hunt with a weapon such as this, and will warn you of his fury. And I will even present you with a gift, such that our parting doesn't leave hatred lingering in your hearts," the soldier claimed, pulling another box labeled Delta-X out of his own pocket.

 _The strength sapped from the bones_

The man in the gray suit turned the box over, pondering what to do with it, "I don't understand… why would you help us?" He looked at the soldier to be met with the soldier's seriousness, a frown firmly in place.

"I know what you are, what we all are. We are what's left in the wake of that _thing_. We are incomplete, we are hollow, a void wishing to be filled. If this is what it takes to plug that hole, then I shall gladly surrender it to you," the soldier all but whispered.

 _And the void devours all_

The man in the gray suit accepted the offering as he watched the shirtless soldier walk away deeper into the compound. He was not finished with the soldiers and researchers stationed here. When the soldier was gone, the man looked down at the box, realizing what he could do with it. How he could make his weapon even stronger. He let a smirk break through his mask, "I guess we have a weapon to build."

 _Saber!_

XXX

Crimson eyes snapped open to regard the world once more. The eyes flicked back and forth, searching for the one who had awakened her. Letting out a sigh when they found nothing, she remembered where she was. She was home, in her paddock, curled around her hatchlings. She lifted her head slightly to check on each one, letting out another sigh when they didn't even shift in their sleep.

 _You were having a nightmare again._

It suddenly crashed back into her. The nightmares again. They had persisted over the past year since the death of Dr. Freeman, but they had never been as vivid than this one. She shook her head carefully, not wanting to wake her hatchlings, trying to forget the dream. She had no idea what it meant, but she knew it meant nothing good. Nightmares never meant anything good.

The dreams had gotten so bad that Dr. Freeman had to resort to waking her up in the middle of the night to free her from her misery and prevent her from thrashing in her sleep. _"Thank you,"_ she hissed softly, knowing that he could hear her from within her own mind. They had become one after he had died, but his presence was felt less and less as the days went on. She wasn't sure if it was on purpose, or if he was fading from even her own mind.

She looked up at the starry sky, trying to will herself to fall asleep again. She knew that sleep would not come easily, she almost never made it back to the land of dreams after a nightmare. There was nothing she could do about it, but think of happy thoughts. Tomorrow would be the day she would get to reveal her hatchlings to the world.

A smile stretched across her lips as she let that thought consume her, banishing the nightmares into her subconscious. Jurassic World had been very careful about her hatchlings, knowing that they would be unable to do anything against her will. She didn't want the world to know of them, at first, but Owen had managed to convince her that it would bring more people to her paddock. And that was a good thing, for reasons she could barely comprehend.

She had been moved into a bigger paddock, but it was harder to maintain than her previous ones, so Jurassic World required more money to keep the paddock in good condition, which meant she needed more people to come and see her. And her hatchlings would hopefully raise the number of people exponentially.

She had been very careful with her children, not letting anyone from Jurassic World touch them, except for Sam. Sam had become the chief geneticist and took personal responsibility over her hatchlings in the place of Wu… father. She would only let Sam check on her children, as she was a wereraptor, much like Owen, and could actually understand her and her hatchlings. The hatchlings rarely spoke, but would voice their discontent if they were being hurt, and she believed that a normal vet would be blind to their pain. Sam was not.

Sam also knew exactly what she would do to her if she injured, or worse, one of her hatchlings. A normal vet could only imagine, but Sam could hear the words right from her mouth. But she was careful, and thus never experienced the most painful death imaginable. And she liked Sam, she was kind. And was good at chess.

She let out another deep sigh. That was the one real thing she missed about Dr. Freeman, he was a real challenge. It was selfish, almost, for that to be what she missed most, she knew that. But she could hear his voice in her mind, she could feel his presence when he took an ethereal form, and she could still smell his scent all over the only thing that came with her to the new paddock. Dr. Freeman's desk still survived in the new viewing room.

But she knew that Dr. Freeman's death was not the only one to send ripples across the island. Dracul had died too and Blue lost her entire family. She lifted her head to gaze at the lone raptor. Blue always slept a few feet away from her and her hatchlings, curled up alone, no matter how cold it was. The light had died in the Raptor's eyes, there was no bounce in her step, and she only regarded Owen as Alpha, nothing more, nothing less.

Blue was a lost cause, there was nothing anyone could do to cheer her up. She had lost not one, not two, but all three of her sisters. And although she gained a friend in the form of Owen, she was still empty inside. A void that could not be filled.

But that didn't mean _she_ couldn't be happy. She remembered, a year ago, when Mary… Dr. Freeman promptly informed her that her real name was Marie, had asked if she was truly happy. And she had been unable to answer. But now… now she knew for certain that she was happy. She had a huge paddock and three hatchlings to call her own. She wouldn't trade this for her freedom, no matter how badly she had wanted it before. She was content.

Her eyelids began to droop as she felt slumber take her. Tomorrow was not a day to be dreaded, it was a day to be celebrated. She should be proud of her hatchlings, not afraid for their sakes. She should want to show them to the world. Then perhaps they would get real names. And as her eyes shut for the night, there was a brief flash in her mind, the remnants of her nightmare, before it was silenced forever.

 _The pyre on which the world shall burn_

XXX

 **And there you have it! Our prologue, our opening chapter. I know, not a lot of Owen and Sam… not even a lot of Dr. Freeman and Saber. But we are introduced to our main villain… well, sort of. We get to see his freedom and his massacre of the facility that held him captive for who knows how long. It shouldn't be too hard to place the invaders as King, Marie, and the tall Native American man, obviously searching for those last few parts to make the AEDs in Tedium. And so… I ask once again for names! This time for three of them! Two female and one male for each of Saber's hatchlings. I've already gotten a few that are pretty good, but I want to give as many people a chance as possible. As they will be an important part of this story. Next chapter we get to see Owen and Sam, plus more Saber! Stay tuned to see how that turns out!**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 1 – Vivify:

Author's Note:

 **Welcome to our first (real) chapter. Now, a few of you have asked questions about the name of this story, so I hope to rectify that before we begin. Sanguine has a few different definitions for those of you too lazy to look the word up on google.**

 **1: Optimistic or positive, especially in a difficult situation**

 **2: Blood-red (or a noun meaning a blood-red color)**

 **3: Bloody or Bloodthirsty**

 **Hope that helps clear up any confusion. How these definitions relate to the story… well, you'll have to keep reading to find out. Now, just as last time, we start in the past. This time, we begin after Tedium has ended at a hospital somewhere in California…**

XXX

 ** _Static_** _Awake_ _ **Static**_

Glass rained to the floor with a loud crash. She breathed in and out heavily, she had just felt herself die. And not an easy death either, she could still feel the fire as her entire body disintegrated. And then that awful feeling of your soul flying back into your body, as if waking from a dream.

Pain spiked through her system, causing her to cry out and clench her eyes closed. _What happened?_ the thought managed to get passed the wall of pain, but it didn't stick around long. She felt every nerve in her body set alight by the remnants of the fire that killed her. Or at least, was supposed to kill her.

She curled up in a fetal position, clutching her head, trying to shut out the agony. She had little success, as the memory of her dying a fiery death replayed over and over again in her mind. _How am I still alive?_ she wondered before that thought too was banished. She let out a pathetic whimper as the burning sensation seeped through her soul.

 ** _Static_** _Supernova_ _ **Static**_

Incessant beeping filled the room as she felt her grip on reality start to go. The burning sensation was starting to overwhelm her and drag her to the depths of insanity. She didn't understand… how was she still alive? She knew that she had died, she could still hear her own voice echoing through her head between bouts of pain.

She didn't hear the multitude of shoes clacking against the hard floors rushing into the room as she _felt_ her thalamus give out and her consciousness start to fade. She wasn't quite sure what had happened, but she _knew_ that her pain index had been surpassed… she was dying again. As her ability to feel pain left her, leaving only the slightest embers of flame in her veins, she could hear the voices around her.

"We're losing her!"

"Her heartrate is off the charts, we need something to slow it down!"

"Damn it, she just woke up, we're not losing her again," that particular voice stood out to her. Her eyes opened partially, just enough to perceive the face looking down at her. It was a man's face, one that seemed so foreign and so familiar all at once.

 ** _Static_** _You'll be fine_ _ **Static**_

Somehow, it felt as if that voice wasn't coming from the man hovering above her. It sounded like a voice she had heard long ago. Her eyes closed, leaving her vision cloaked in black. She let out a deep breath, only at that moment did it occur to her she had been crying the entire time the doctors fiddled with her vitals.

Her eyes snapped open. White. Everything was white. She blinked a few times, trying to clear those last few black spots from her vision. She let out a sigh, _what happened to me?_ One moment, she was dying, the next she was awake, but in agony. Now she was perfectly fine. This was all too strange.

"You're awake… again," she directed her attention towards a man sitting at the foot of the bed she was in. _A bed… why am I in a bed?_ She tried to sit up, but she felt all her muscles scream in protest to the action. So she remained lying down.

"What happened?" she managed to groan out. Her tongue felt like lead in her mouth, slurring her words and causing spit to pool in her mouth.

The man, she assumed was a doctor, let out a sigh and said, "You've been in a coma for five years. You woke up about seven hours ago, but your heartrate was unnaturally high, we had to put you down again."

"A coma?" she said in disbelief. She raised her arm slowly, ignoring the aching, and placed a hand against her head, a headache developing. She was so confused.

"Yes," the doctor said simply, picking up a clipboard and began to jot down a few things. "Tell me, how do you feel?"

She blinked a few times before shaking her head, trying to clear the disorientation from her mind. "Sore, and my head hurts," she groaned. The doctor scribbled something, likely what she just said, and reached over to grab a pill bottle. He dumped a few into his hand and handed three to her, motioning to a glass of water near her bed.

She accepted the pills and downed them with the water. The effects were immediate, her head clearing and her muscles loosening. She narrowed her eyes, "What was that?" The doctor only shook his head, refusing to tell her exactly what the pills were.

"We're all very confused about what put you in that coma and we'd be very interested to know what the last thing you remember was," the doctor smiled. She could feel her tongue shrinking in her mouth, no longer did it feel heavy.

"I'm not sure… I can remember a flash of purple, then I was in agony," she admitted. She sat up with a sigh. It felt good to move after so long. The doctor had said **five** years. _Five years… gone,_ she realized. Suddenly, a thought hit her, "Where is my sister?"

The doctor frowned, "We lost track of her shortly after she dropped you off. She seemed to just… disappear. We aren't sure if she's even alive." He seemed hesitant to add on that last part.

With her mind clear, she was starting to think rationally again. _We?_ she wondered, not sure who he meant by _we_. She looked back up at the doctor, who had put down the clipboard and stood from his chair. "I'm afraid that's all the time we have. But don't worry, you're going to be getting some guests in a few moments," the doctor said stiffly.

 ** _Static_** _Guests_ _ **Static**_

She watched the doctor walk out of the room, not shutting the door behind him. So she was left with her own thoughts. She had lied to the doctor earlier… she did remember something besides the purple flash. She was sure of it… the voice she had heard when they were putting her down was from that night. A voice reassuring her that everything was fine.

She wasn't sure why, but something inside of her screamed danger. She had no idea who these guests were… they couldn't be her family, otherwise the doctor would've just said so. The word guests just sounded so… sinister to her. She looked over to the window, only to be met with a large plastic cover instead.

 _That's right… the glass,_ she remembered. The glass had shattered when she had woken up and screamed. Had she done that? If so… why didn't the doctor ask about that? Something was wrong.

 ** _Static_** _They're coming for you_ _ **Static**_

 _Who?_ she mentally screamed, panic setting in. She couldn't tell who was speaking to her, or to whom it was referring to. She was in danger, she could tell that much, but who or what was after her she couldn't tell. All she had was instinct. She flinched when several men marched into her room, all wearing green.

She counted four in total, all armed. They were carrying weapons of varying calibers and they shut the door behind them. She was trapped in the room with four strange men all in military uniforms. So, these were her guests. The white room suddenly felt much smaller.

She didn't have time to ask what they wanted as one of them pulled over the chair the doctor had just been sitting in. He carried a simple pistol, but kept it holstered by his side. He grabbed the clipboard and flipped through what the doctor had written. Two soldiers stood in front of the closed door, preventing anyone from coming in or out, as the final soldier pulled out a large camera out of a bag.

He snapped a picture of her before taking several other pictures of the room. All the while, the only one sitting turned to her and began to speak. But she only heard bits and pieces of what he said, as fear paralyzed her into place. She wanted out.

The soldier raised an eyebrow and said, "Did you hear me? I said, state your name and occupation for us… please," he tacked on at the end.

She breathed in sharply before exhaling deeply, "What?" she said, trying to pretend as if she hadn't heard him. _Why are they here?_

The soldier growled something under his breath, "We're with the United States military, my name is Major General Waters, and I asked if you could state your name and occupation for us."

She gulped, but complied, squinting as the soldier taking pictures took another of her, "My name is Mary Giddings, no occupation." The General handed the clipboard to the man who had been taking pictures. The man put down his camera and grabbed the clipboard, turning the page, and pulling out a pen.

The General smiled, leaning forward, clearly pleased that she had finally answered. "Are you aware of how you ended up in a coma?" he asked. She shook her head, but the man immediately growled, "Use words, please."

"No," she hissed, becoming fed up with his tone. She narrowed her eyes at him, but knew she could do nothing. She was trapped on this bed with nowhere to run, she had no choice but to answer these questions.

 ** _Static_** _Not quite…_ _ **Static**_

There was that voice again. It seemed so familiar, but she couldn't place it. The General frowned and kept asking questions, "Are you aware of the whereabouts of your sister, Marie Giddings?"

Why was he asking these questions? She was just told what happened by the doctor, who happened to mention that Marie's location was currently unknown. _The doctor said we… he meant the military. The doctor's in on this,_ she realized. "I just woke up! Why would I know where my sister is?" she cried out, hoping to get an answer out of the men.

The man holding the clipboard and the General exchanged looks. The General nodded and the other man set down the clipboard. He reached for his bag, pulled out a plain manila folder, and handed it to the General. The soldier opened the folder and pulled out a few photos, placing them on the bed so that she could see them.

The pictures were of Marie and two men she did not recognize. "This is your sister, correct?" the General asked, tapping the girl in the photo. It was a picture of Marie all right, she was glaring up at the camera. The picture was in black and white, but Mary knew it was her.

"Didn't the doctor say you had no idea where she went?" she asked, now confused as to why the doctor seemed to be out of the loop.

"We have been unable to find anyone to give us a positive ID. As of this moment, this is the only sighting of your sister in five years. This photo was taken two weeks ago at a military base in New Mexico," the General explained.

"What was Marie doing in a military base?" she asked.

"That's what we hoped you would be able to answer… as of this moment, we have been unable to enter the base, due to certain…" the General trailed off, "Complications," he finished. She didn't need to know about _it_ being released and preventing anyone from coming near the base.

"I'm sorry… I just don't see any reason Marie would want to break into a military base," she shook her head. The General only frowned before pointing at one of the two men with Marie.

"We've managed to ID this man as Edward King. Up until five years ago, he was a normal stay-at-home dad, but after the… accident," the General started, but was interrupted.

"Accident?" she asked, confused. The doctor had asked her about the incident that had put her in a coma, but she had no idea it was an accident. Or that anyone knew anything about it.

"Yes… we are still unsure of what caused the accident, but we have reason to believe it was what put you in a coma and is why Edward King became a suspected terrorist, wanted for several accounts of murder, theft, and trespassing on military property," the General finished explaining.

 _Accident…_ the thought rang clear in her mind. But that name seemed familiar, "I can recall someone else with the last name King. Nora King? Head of the psychology department at Cal-tech."

"Yes, that was his wife. She died at the same time you fell into that coma. Whatever caused that coma reverberated across that campus… doing strange things to some, killing others, and nothing to those lucky few. If your sister has been caught up with that man… he must want her for something," the General leaned back into the chair, clearly deep in thought.

 ** _Static_** _Cal-tech_ _ **Static**_

As the General thought, so did she. She realized that she would have to go back to Cal-tech, maybe gain access to the room the accident originated from. That might jog her memory. The General's voice brought her out of her train of thought, "King, though unemployed for the longest of times, has shown to have a remarkable intellect and is… or was clearly planning something."

"Was?" she asked, suddenly concerned about her sister.

"We had been tracking him since we saw him in the facility, but he suddenly dropped off the map a few hours ago. Completely gone, as if he fell off the face of the Earth… and took your sister with him," he said, pulling another picture from the folder, and passed it to her.

It was another picture of her sister, but this time she was doing something strange. She had her arm outstretched. Mary's eyes widened when she realized that Marie was surrounded by bullets, but none of them seemed to be moving, it was as if she had stopped them with nothing but her outstretched arm. She looked up at the General to see his mouth in a tight line.

He let out a deep sigh, "For whatever reason, we believe that the accident had affected her in a different way than you. While you were forced into a coma, she seems to have gained the ability of psychokinesis. I know this is difficult to comprehend, but I need to know what that experiment was about."

 ** _Static_** _Awakening of psychic powers in beings with high latent ESP ratings_ _ **Static**_

Her mind was thrown into a frenzy as she tried to recall. There was that voice again, saying something, but she couldn't quite comprehend what it meant. _What should I tell him?_ she pondered the consequences of not knowing. "I don't know what you mean…" she said slowly.

His eye twitched as he leaned forward again. "Don't play the fool, I know that there was some sort of experiment going on in that lab before the accident. One second, everything's fine, the next… we have this," he growled, pointing at the picture of Marie stopping the bullets in midair. "I need to know what the experiment was about, otherwise I won't be able to find your sister."

She shut her eyes tightly, pretending to recall what the experiment was about. But she instead focused on a way out. The General was starting to become frustrated, and she had no idea what he would resort to when he found out she didn't have the answers he was looking for. Her eyes popped open and she gave the General a hard look, "I don't know."

The General let out a breath in agitation as he leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. "Then I suppose I have no choice. Mary Giddings, you're under arrest for withholding information, as well as being considered a possible leak of classified information," he growled, standing from his chair, and motioning for the two soldiers standing by the door to take action.

The two soldiers shouldered their rifles and began to approach her, training their weapons on her. The soldier that had been writing on the clipboard pulled out a pair of handcuffs while the General stood back and observed, hands clasped behind his back. He stared at her intently as the soldiers made an attempt to apprehend her.

 ** _Static_** _Defend yourself_ _ **Static**_

Liquid fire rushed through her veins, setting her soul alight. She panicked at first, believing that the burning feeling would send her back into a state of immense suffering, but the heat was not harming her. Rather, it reinvigorated her. She could feel the strength come back into her limbs, the tiredness she felt before completely banished from her mind as she narrowed her eyes at the soldier grabbing her arms and putting them behind her back.

And there was something else present within her, something that she had felt when she first woke up, but had been buried under the unbearable agony that overtook her. But now she could feel it clearly, a power within her that begged to be released. Her pupils shrank as the force reacted by pushing the soldier away from her, knocking him off his feet and throwing him through the thin plastic sheet covering the broken glass.

She turned her attention to the two other soldiers, ignoring the man's screams and the inevitable _splat_ as he hit the ground. They opened fire, but she reacted instinctively, holding out her arm and stopping the bullets in midair like she had seen Marie do in the pictures. The power reacted against her will at that moment, however, attaching itself to the necks of the two soldiers and strangling the life out of them.

The corpses hit the ground with a thud, but she still was unable to gain control over this might. It wanted more… _needed more_. She turned her attention to the General who was standing absolutely still barely smirking at her. "I had thought as much," was all he said before the power lashed out and blasted him off his feet.

 ** _Static_** _Kill him_ _ **Static**_

She licked her lips slowly as the mysterious force held the General up against the wall a few feet off the ground. He didn't seem at all concerned by his current situation, only a frown present on his face. The power slammed his head against the wall, causing him to let out a groan in pain, before latching onto his neck and squeezing hard. _No!_ she screamed internally, halting the General's execution.

She didn't _want_ to kill him. She didn't want to kill any of them! She concentrated hard, managing to reign in the strange power and preventing it from killing the General against her will. Whatever this power was, it was _hers_ to control. The General regarded her listlessly as he struggled to remain conscious.

Now that she was in control, she became aware of how _exhausting_ it was to hold the General against the wall like that. She let out a deep breath, dropping the General to the ground. She blinked slowly, trying to keep herself from passing out from exhaustion. The fire dissipated and she was left feeling cold. _What was that?_ she pondered halfheartedly as she crawled out of her bed, grabbing the handcuffs as she went.

She tumbled to the ground, her legs having not been used for five years and the exhaustion not helping. She managed to stumble to her feet, wobbling slightly, and approached the General. He was just barely conscious as she knelt down to his level, struggling not to collapse and join him on the floor in slumber.

She brandished the handcuffs and attached them to his arm. She attached the other side to the doctor's desk, which was bolted to the ground. "Where was the last place you tracked Edward King before he disappeared?" she growled slowly, glaring through languid eyes at the General.

The General seemed to think for a moment, wondering if it was worth it telling her the truth. Eventually, he took a deep breath and said, "Everything we discussed today in this room is classified. You are not to tell anyone anything you heard here today, do you understand?"

She narrowed her eyes at him, confused as to why this was his only condition. Did he really only care about not leaking information? It didn't make any sense, but she nodded in agreement nevertheless. _I'll just have to be careful, this could be a trap,_ she rationed.

He nodded in return and said, "Ah, excellent. King's last known position was 120 miles off the west coast of Costa Rica." She gave him a look of confusion, she had no idea what was west of Costa Rica except for the Pacific Ocean. King's last known position was in the middle of the ocean?

The General noticed her concern and shook his head, as if reading her mind. "You have no idea what's out there, do you?" he asked. She only shook her head in response, exhaustion taking her ability to speak clearly, her tongue once again heavy in her mouth. The General gave her a small grin, "Jurassic World."

XXX

Her crimson eyes narrowed to slits as awareness flooded them. She blinked her inner eyelids and looked around. She had just been standing, frozen, in the middle of her paddock staring off into space. She tilted her head in confusion as she tried to remember what had happened to her.

 _You're daydreaming now?_

She snorted, she had indeed been daydreaming. Though she couldn't remember what it was she had seen. She shook her head and looked down at her feet, her three hatchlings staring up at her in expectation. They were excited to finally get to explore the entire paddock and they were glaring at her for stopping.

She had been incredibly careful, keeping her hatchlings away from the clearing near the viewing room. She, for the longest time, had wanted to keep them secret. But today was the day she revealed their presence to the world. And they were extremely excited about getting to see people. She had described humans to them before once they realized that she had been disappearing for a few minutes every day and they had been unable to follow her.

And humans fascinated them. Although they didn't quite understand that they were in a cage for the humans' enjoyment, they did realize that the humans were here to see them. And they wanted to be seen, they loved attention. Saber snorted to herself when she thought of that, they seemed to be starved of attention. The only ones they got to interact with besides herself was Owen and Sam.

 _And Blue,_ she reminded herself, though nearly immediately discounted it. Blue hardly ever spoke a word to any of the hatchlings. Not that she blamed the Raptor, Blue had started to enjoy being alone and went to great lengths to separate herself from any of the hatchlings. Not that the hatchlings didn't try and speak to Blue, she just ignored them.

She strained her ears, trying to hear Owen. The show had already started, she could hear the crowd clapping for Owen and she could see the mass of humans with her infrared vision, she was just waiting for Owen's signal. This show was going to be like any other, and she could tell the crowd knew it by the sheer density of heat signatures. They blended together, making it difficult to pick out any one human.

For starters, Owen was currently _inside_ the paddock. Normally, he would stay inside the viewing room during shows and she would usually never let him inside the paddock unless he was in Raptor form, but she had allowed him to enter the paddock during the show, and in human form no less, this one time. He wanted to interact with her hatchlings directly as he named them in front of the crowd. She was hopeless at naming things and Owen wanted to wait until they were revealed to the public to name any of them, thus the hatchlings had gone nameless for over half a year.

She let out a low growl and stepped closer to the tree line, cloaking herself as she did. She peered out into the clearing, hissing softly for her hatchlings to stay hidden. They obeyed dutifully, though they couldn't camouflage themselves yet, they stayed behind the tree line. She saw Owen standing bravely with his back to the tree line, talking into a microphone to the crowd in the viewing room.

The general populace had known for some time that she could understand English, and they had reacted… strangely to it. They didn't seem excited nor afraid of her, they just accepted it as fact. The thought often enraged her, it didn't matter how intelligent she was… she was still beneath the humans. But she calmed herself by letting out a deep breath, anger would get her nowhere.

It was interesting that no one seemed to care she could understand them. She still couldn't communicate with them, though she never really wanted to, and lots of animals supposedly could understand English. She supposed she wasn't much different than a dog in that regard.

"And now… I am pleased to introduce Saber, the Indominus Rex!" Owen practically yelled. A hush fell over the crowd as those words were said and Saber emerged from the brush, hissing at her hatchlings to stay put. The green color she had hidden herself with bled from her scales, leaving behind white.

As she stepped over Owen, she got down on all fours, pointing her nose to the heavens and releasing her most ferocious roar. Owen and the crowd collectively clapped their hands over their ears as the sound echoed across Jurassic World. She could feel an electric jolt go down her spine, it had been some time since she had roared unrestrained such as this. She was unsure if it was just her elation or if it was something else.

She let the roar hang in the air unchallenged before slowly getting back up on two legs. She stared at Owen as he gave her an incredulous look that she didn't need him to translate aloud, _did you have to do that?_ She only snorted at him with a knowing smirk as he turned back to the crowd, completely unconcerned with the massive predator standing behind him.

"And this is why I'll need hearing implants before I'm fifty," Owen muttered into the microphone, causing a few of the adults in the viewing room to chuckle. He began to pace in front of her, all the while talking about her, "Fifty feet long, roar as loud as a jumbo jet taking off, and a tremendous intellect are what make the Indominus a terrifying force to be reckoned with, not to mention the camouflage and the thermal detection abilities that make her the most dangerous predator on the planet."

As Owen continued to talk about her, she walked over to the viewing room, her footsteps causing the earth to tremble. She pressed her face against the glass and blinked her inner eyelid, her pupils narrowing to slits as she regarded the humans within. She knew she was just being paranoid, but she wanted to make absolutely sure they were all afraid of her. That way they knew, when they saw her hatchlings, that she would protect them to the fullest degree of her abilities.

She watched the crowd gulp and take an unconscious step backwards, except for one man. She narrowed her eyes at the single man who did not step back in fear, he was an older man, most likely in his fifties. His skin was well tanned, as if he spent hours in the sun, and he wore a brown fedora hat and a red handkerchief around his neck. And he was frozen in place, not even flinching under her gaze. As she stared at him, he stared back, not moving, not blinking, not even breathing. She inhaled deeply, trying to catch his scent so she could remember it later, if needed. He smelled like dirt.

She let out a low growl, wondering if she could startle the man, but he remained frozen in place. Owen interrupted her before she could do anything more, "And, although we are still unsure of exactly what her genetic make is, we do know one thing for certain…" She turned away from the viewing room and stalked over to Owen, knowing he was pausing for dramatic effect.

"That she is capable of reproduction," he said seriously. That was her que. She heard the crowd give a collective gasp as she turned to the tree line with a commanding hiss. The humans watched in awe as her three hatchlings stumbled out of the brush, strutting towards their mother. She refrained from sighing when the eldest hatchling snapped at the youngest, causing him to growl at his older sister.

"They hatched about six months ago, only now have we gotten the go ahead to reveal them to public eyes," Owen explained as the hatchlings rounded on him, sniffing him cautiously. They had interacted with Owen before, but only as a Raptor. "As you can see, they are about the size of large dogs, but in a year or two, they'll be over twenty feet long."

Saber watched the crowd carefully, gauging their reactions. She was pleased to see the children wide-eyed and staring at her hatchlings, mouths agape from the unexpected spectacle. She could see their mothers swooning over them when the eldest latched onto Owen's jacket, smelling the treat within, and tugging on it, nearly knocking him over. She could see the teens snapping pictures that would soon be circulating on the internet, bringing in more paying patrons to the park. And she could see the man with the red handkerchief rubbing his chin, deep in thought.

Owen chuckled at the oldest hatchling's attempts to snatch the snack he had stuffed his pockets with. He pulled out the beef jerky and offered it to the female, causing her to immediately to let go of his jacket. He smiled as she snapped up the treat, she loved beef jerky, and turned back to the crowd, "We are confident that there are no male Indomini running around, there is a good chance someone artificially inseminated her. But, in the meantime, we allowed her to keep her hatchlings."

She snorted at the very idea, no force on Earth could take them from her. But she knew that he was just assuring the crowd that the Indominus population was under control and that they had some semblance of control over her as well. Besides, park allows mother to keep her hatchlings is a better headline than park exterminates possible Indominus infestation. A little white lie never hurt anyone.

Owen rubbed the eldest hatchling's head and handed her another strip of jerky, the others crowding around him, trying to get a piece of what the eldest had gotten. "This one is Sabina, the first to hatch. As you can see, she's quite a bit larger than the other two, but refrains from using her size to bully her younger siblings, she knows she gets plenty from both myself and her mother," Owen explained.

Saber couldn't help but smile, she remembered the elation that had gone through her soul once Owen had named her. And now he was naming her hatchlings, though they hadn't suffered as long as she had, they still went several months unnamed. Sabina was an excellent choice, she knew that Owen couldn't help but perpetuate the sword trend.

Owen pulled another strip of jerky from his pocket and offered it to the other female hatchling. "This one is Saphira, she's about an hour younger than her older sister. Her favorite food is actually bacon, but she'll settle for just about anything in my pockets, as you can see. Although smaller than her older sister, she's more intelligent, already solving a few rudimentary puzzles I used to give my Raptors when they were hatchlings…" he trailed off for a moment, staring off into space. He hadn't meant to mention his Raptors.

Saber sighed, it was that damn book again. She knew Owen named her Saphira just to spite her, but it was Sam's fault, really. She had brought a book over a few months ago, before the hatchlings began talking and read to them while she did a few routine medical check-ups. The youngest and eldest hatchlings shared her disdain of Eragon, but the middle hatchling took to the story. And, as soon as she had been able to talk, she asked for Sam to read more of the book. They had nearly gone through the entire series by now.

Owen shook himself out of his stupor when the youngest hatchling nudged his leg. He took a moment to compose himself before pulling the last strip of jerky from his pocket and handing it to the youngest hatchling. "And this is Free, the youngest hatchling and also the only male Indominus in the world," Owen said, "He hatched about three days after the other two, and he's a bit small, but healthy otherwise."

Owen neglected to mention the fact that he had yet to say a single word. The newly christened Saphira had been speaking for several months, Sabina had said her first word last month… and yet Free hasn't said anything. _Maybe I should have Sam check if he's mute,_ she decided.

Saber watched as the crowd stared at her hatchlings, snapping photos, and posting on social media sites. She was excited that the world knew about them, though apprehensive about the danger they were now in, though Owen seemed unconcerned. She let out a deep breath and a soft hiss, calling her hatchlings to her as she receded back into the tree line. They would have two more shows for the day, and she suspected that there would be even more people at the other shows.

XXX

A man in a black suit sighed and rubbed his eyes. Dark bags were present under his eyes, he hadn't had a good night's sleep in some time. By his side was a young girl, only eleven years old. She seemed to be the one leading the man, not the other way around, through the thick jungles of Isla Sorna. "Are you sure this is necessary?" the man complained.

"I told you, I'm not leaving until they're all eradicated," she affirmed, eyes never looking up at the man. She was quite a bit shorter than him, only coming up to his waist. She flicked a strand of her long, unruly, black hair behind her ear and said, "Besides, we've only been here for a year."

" _A year!_ " the man hissed in frustration. She made it sound like they were on vacation, as if a dinosaur infested jungle was anyone's ideal vacation spot.

"Oh, stop complaining! I see that look of enjoyment each time we scare off another group of InGen scientists or poachers, don't tell me you're having a bad time," she smirked.

The man snorted, "It's just aggravating when you wake me up at two in the morning, blasting my door open, and screaming: _I've got some!_ Then you drag me out of bed and take me on a wild goose chase… this is annoying, not fun."

The girl only rolled her eyes, "There are ten of them this time, and they had just stopped for the night. If you hadn't spent so much time complaining, we might've been able to catch them off-guard! Now they're moving again."

"Ten of them, huh?" the man sighed, finally giving up his complaints. Nothing he could say would get through to the girl, she was adamant about this. Ever since she had decided to clear Isla Sorna of InGen scum, she had done nothing but work towards that goal. Although there were dark bags under her eyes as well, they had been there for quite some time before they had begun this crusade.

"We might need more Raptors, then," he suggested. Behind the two humans walked two Raptors. Their amber eyes had turned glassy as they stepped slowly and deliberately behind the two humans, completely silent. They had lost their autonomy.

The girl nodded and stopped, closing her eyes as she concentrated. The man and the Raptors stopped as well, waiting for her to finish searching for more Raptors. The girl was something else, the man would admit. He was still slightly confused as to how she gained these powers, but he knew that she was psychic, to some degree.

After he had helped free her from her father, she had wanted to free the island from InGen. Perhaps it was a bit ironic that she planned to accomplish this by enslaving the local dinosaur population, but she claimed that all they needed was some direction. They could not coordinate without her, and she was using them to great effect.

Her violet eyes popped open as she grinned, "Backup should be here momentarily. The targets are close; however, I think we should try and engage them with what we have before backup arrives."

The man rubbed his eyes again, "How close are the targets?" He had never had any problem referring to humans as targets, but she had taken to it surprisingly well. _Perhaps she no longer sees the poachers and InGen employees as humans,_ he wondered.

"Not even a quarter of a kilometer in that direction," she said, pointing towards the east. "I've already ordered backup to converge on that location, they should get there only a few minutes after we do."

He squeezed the bridge of his nose, shutting his eyes momentarily as he did, as he pondered their chances of surviving against ten heavily armed men with only two Raptors. He let out a sigh, coming to the conclusion that they would likely be fine. "Alright, we can track them down, but we _do not_ engage until backup arrives," that didn't mean he wanted to risk her safety. She was the only reason they had survived a year on the island alone.

She smirked and began moving forward again, him following by her side with the Raptors just a few steps behind them. He chuckled inwardly, on a dinosaur infested island, this little girl was the most dangerous thing here. Her ability to control any animal, no matter their size, always astounded him each time he watched her take control of a large group of Raptors. And she had only gotten stronger since being freed from her father.

No longer did she lash out randomly, attacking humans and animals alike. No longer was she mostly blind, she had figured out how to repair her own eyesight with her powers. No longer was she limited to controlling only a single animal or human at once, her powers had expanded so much that even the mighty T-Rex fell before her along with dozens and dozens of Raptor subordinates.

She held up her hand in a stopping motion and immediately dropped to the ground. He followed her, kneeling next to her, and pulling out a simple revolver that he carried with him. The Raptors hunkered down as well, though they inched closer to her until they were by her side. She moved the large ferns aside so that they could see the targets.

Several large men stepped into the clearing all carrying heavy weapons. The man in the black suit's eyes narrowed, _military?_ It certainly seemed that way, the grizzled soldiers all wore military camouflage and their weapons were likely military-grade. No average poacher could get their hands on such weaponry.

"Yes, they're military," the girl said, reading not just his mind, but theirs as well. _What is the military doing here?_ he wondered, knowing that she would hear his thoughts. "It doesn't matter, we need to get rid of them," the girl answered in a hushed whisper.

"Backup will be here in under a minute," she murmured. He nodded absentmindedly, focusing instead on the soldiers. He had no idea what the military would want with Isla Sorna, but if they managed to chase this group off, or kill them, they may quarantine the island and prevent anyone else from coming here. And then he could finally get off the accursed island.

His eyes narrowed as he observed the soldiers, noticing something odd. One soldier stuck out among all the others. While he had the same brown-haired buzzcut the other soldiers had and was around the same height as the others, he wore a black camo jacket instead of the military green camo the others wore. And he carried no visible weapons.

 _Why would anyone not bring a gun to an island full of dinosaurs?_ the man in the black suit wondered. But then he noticed something even more strange, prompting him to ask aloud, "How many did you say there were?"

"I sensed ten of them, why?" she asked, not quite sure what he was getting at. The soldier in the black camo jacket came to a halt, causing the other soldiers to stop as well. Her eyes widened when she realized why the man next to him was concerned.

The soldier in the black jacket turned his blazing red gaze to their hiding spot, eyes narrowing as he did. The man in the black suit gulped audibly, "I think you need to get that psychic sense of yours checked out… because I count eleven soldiers."

XXX

 **I would like to start by thanking everyone who sent me names. The names that I selected were from (in order of appearance) thearizona, dracologistmaster, and an unnamed guest account. All the names were wonderful (and I, like Saber, am terrible at naming things) making it difficult to choose between all of them.**

 **So, onto the story. We get to see what happens to Mary after she wakes up after the end of Tedium (she reacted rather poorly, don't you think?). And, as many of you suspected, she's gained psychic powers as well. And we're introduced to Major General Waters, who will be coming back in a few more chapters, so keep an eye out for him. And the hatchlings have their first show! Saber seems to have mixed feelings, but who could the man with the red handkerchief be? As you may or may not remember, at the end of Tedium, Ila and the man in the black suit went back to Isla Sorna to eliminate InGen's presence and they seemed to have stayed for the year gap between this story and Tedium, eliminating poachers and residual InGen employees. But now there is a group of soldiers on the island and Ila wants to confront them… but guess who is among the soldiers? That's going to be an interesting confrontation…**

 **In any case, I would just like to warn everyone that my posting will be slowing down over the month of December. I've joined another lab (and I'm doing a winter term… not to mention finals in a few weeks), so I'll be fairly busy. But I'll do my best to keep updates coming fairly regularly. Stay tuned to find out what happens next!**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 2 – Destruction of Sennacherib:

Author's Note:

 **Here we go again… last chapter ended on a cliffhanger, so we should get to see that rectified. Hmm…**

 _You seem to be a bit stuck._

 **I suppose so. I guess there really isn't much to say.**

 _Well… you're not going to kill him, are you? I mean, that wouldn't make any sense, would it?_

 **You're going to have to be more specific.**

 _T5721._

 **Who?**

 _Oh, don't play coy with me. One of the reviewers mentioned this combination of numbers and letters as if it was a serial number… there's only one character that would have a serial number as a name. And, well, the reviewer basically said it blatantly._

 **…** **Well no one else seems to have noticed. I'm not sure if they read the other reviews like you do.**

 _I may have also broke into your account and looked at your PMs… you really shouldn't log into fanfiction in public… you never know who's looking._

 **Noted. Changing password the moment I kick you out of here. But, yes, the mysterious soldier's name (or serial number) is T5721 (which was going to be revealed eventually) and no, it doesn't make any sense to kill him.**

 _So that means…_

 **Save your speculations for the reviews, where no one will look.**

 _Well… you don't have to put it like that. Would you like me to go ahead and reveal T5721's real name? Or how about the fact that his name (or serial number) doesn't appear at all in your outline?_

 **Do you just want me to admit that I made it up off the top of my head when people started asking?**

 _Yes._

 **I refuse. Are you really going to ruin things each time I ask you here (or when you** ** _break into my dorm?_** **)?**

 _I haven't decided yet. And it's not breaking in when you leave the doors unlocked._

 **That doesn't mean you should just waltz in here.**

 _Noted._

 **In any case, Dragon-God has a point. Or… several points? I guess if you pay attention to the reviews you may have noticed a few bits of information leaking through, but hopefully those holes are patched now. On a different note, this chapter doesn't start in the past! We start in the present, right where we left off. Please, enjoy!**

XXX

"Well hello there," the red-eyed soldier's voice was deep and smooth as he glared into the brush where the girl and the man in the black suit were hiding. He watched, smirk firmly entrenched on his face, as the girl and the man stood up from the brush, the man dropping a revolver he was carrying.

The soldiers stepped forward, training their guns on the two, familiar clicks of safeties being released accompanied their action. The man raised his hands in the air, nervously looking between the black-jacketed soldier and the guns pointed at him while the girl only returned the red-eyed man's glare. "What are you doing on Isla Sorna?" she hissed.

"I'm looking for something," he grinned, crossing his arms. He took a few steps forward towards the girl, but was halted when he heard hissing in the bushes. He narrowed his eyes once more, realizing that the girl had brought Raptors with her.

"Whatever you're looking for, it isn't here," she growled, continuing to refuse to raise her hands like the man next to her. Her fingers twitched ever so slightly, though the red-eyed soldier noticed the motion, commanding her Raptor comrades to rise from the brush and walk to her side.

"Au contraire, what I seek stands before me," he said calmly, not at all afraid of the Raptors. The soldiers shared his confidence, not even flinching when the Raptors hissed at them, baring their teeth. The soldiers only tightened their grips on their weapons and divided their aims between the Raptors and the two humans.

The girl's eyes widened, but she immediately growled, "It doesn't matter, you're not welcome here. Please leave before I have to sic my friends on you." She managed to keep her voice from wavering, though fear was still evident in her violet eyes. Something that the red-eyed man lacked.

The soldier only cracked his neck and sighed, "Come now, Miss King, surely you cannot be so naïve to believe that I would leave without my prize?" As the words left his mouth, Ila saw red and raised her arm in a fist.

The soldiers attempted to react to the unnecessary movement, only to find they had frozen in place. A grin stretched across Ila's mouth, but was quickly replaced by her mouth dropping open and her eyes widening… the red-eyed man took a single step forward, completely uninhibited by her powers.

Ila took a step back, fear now evident across her entire form, "I can't sense him… I can't sense him…" she mumbled. The soldiers' weapons began to shake as they started to fight her mind control, but were unable to break free.

"Stop him! Stop him!" the man in the black suit shouted, dropping his hands by his side, no longer having a need to hold them up. He seemed even more panicked than the girl, as he didn't even think to reach for his fallen revolver.

"I can't!" Ila cried out, a shiver passing through her form. "It's like he isn't even there…" The red-eyed soldier only grinned widely, a short chuckle escaping from his lips as he walked forward. Ila let out a sharp hiss, glaring at the arrogant soldier.

She snapped her fingers, causing her Raptors to leap forward to stop the soldier. "Backup will be here in less than a minute," she hissed to the man in the black suit, "And the other soldiers are resisting, I can't get them to shoot their comrades."

The Raptors shrieked as they pounced on the red-eyed soldier, who only stood motionless, waiting for them to descend upon him. Right before the first Raptor took a chunk out of his neck, the soldier moved so quickly the man in the black suit nearly missed it. The soldier used the first Raptor like a fulcrum, jumping into the air, planting his elbow on the first Raptor's neck, and swinging himself over the first Raptor, creating momentum which he used to slam his boot into the second Raptor's jaw.

There was a loud _crack_ as the shoe connected to the second Raptor, breaking its jaw, and sending it veering off course. The soldier landed on both feet and, without pausing, struck the first Raptor in the side hard enough to cause it to scream in pain. The soldier wasted no time in gripping the upper and lower parts of the first Raptor's jaws, before pulling them completely apart with a loud _snap!_

The man in the black suit, finally coming to, dropped to the ground to recover his revolver, but the soldier was faster. The red-eyed man ripped the top part of the Raptor's jaw completely off the skull, splattering blood across his face, and threw it like a bladed Frisbee at the man in the black suit.

The man, having just picked up the gun, dropped it again with a red gash across his hand from the teeth of the dying Raptor. The man watched as the soldier rounded on the second Raptor, who was still righting itself, a dark laugh escaping his mouth, piercing the man in the black suit to his very core.

The soldier slammed his fist down onto the Raptor's neck, knocking it down again, before placing his boot carefully over its skull. Those red eyes made contact with the man's hazel as pressure was added to the Raptor's skull, eventually shattering it and scattering blood and brain matter across the ground. He looked over at Ila, vicious grin still plastered across his face.

Her eye twitched as she felt the deaths of her two Raptor companions ripple through their bond. She wasn't necessarily mind controlling them, more of convincing them what to do. It wasn't like they weren't happy, she had freed them from an InGen paddock and had them following her for the last year. And now they were gone, just like that. She had never lost a single animal to any of the poachers or InGen employees that she had hunted on the island, their deaths scarred her to her very soul. _She had bonded with those Raptors._

The soldier's eyes widened when furious shrieks sounded all around the clearing as dozens and dozens of Raptors swarmed the area. The soldier growled as Ila smirked, "They're here," she said in a sing-song voice. She let go of the other soldiers and latched onto every single Raptor converging on the area, causing their bright amber eyes to turn glassy.

The soldiers hardly had time to point their weapons at the Raptors descending upon them, but they managed to start firing before the Raptors got the first attack. The soldiers stood in a tight circle, continuously firing their weapons into the sea of Raptors. They managed to keep the beasts at bay, timing their reloads so that the Raptors never had time to attack before they were torn to pieces by heavy machine gun fire.

The red-eyed soldier only grinned as the soldiers gunned down the Raptors. The man in the black suit grimaced, but stepped forward, pushing Ila behind him, and striking a defensive pose. He planned to take down the soldier by himself, as Ila was too busy with the others to help him. The soldier only bared his teeth in a vicious grin, "Can you dance?"

The man in the black suit didn't respond, but approached the soldier cautiously. The soldier only threw his head back in demented laughter. The man, seeing an opportunity, struck out at the soldier with a mean left hook. But the soldier reacted faster than the man had expected, grabbing ahold of his fist, halting the attack, and countered with an uppercut.

The man grunted as the soldier made contact with his chin and tried to backpedal away from the soldier continuing the assault. But the man didn't get far, as the soldier still had a tight grip on his arm, dragging him back towards the soldier for another attack. The man felt the air leave his lungs as the soldier's elbow was driven hard into his chest. The soldier let go of his arm and spun around, delivering a cruel right hook, causing the man to drop to the ground.

The man in the black suit wheezed loudly, trying to get air back into his lungs. The soldier was too fast, too strong, and too skilled. The man had some combat training, but it wasn't enough to stand against the clearly highly-trained soldier. He tried to right himself, but was kicked hard in the gut by the soldier. The man rolled over onto his back, coughing from the blow, as the soldier placed his foot on the man's chest.

The man's eyes widened when he realized the soldier was going to do the same thing to him as he did to the Raptor's head. But the soldier never got the chance, as Ila came to his rescue, sending a Raptor to tackle the soldier. The man in the black suit struggled back to his feet to see the Raptor and the soldier tumble across the ground, ending up with the human pinning the dinosaur to the ground.

 _How the hell did he get an advantage in that situation?_ the man wondered. He watched in horror as the red-eyed man gripped the Raptor's head and began to twist, a loud _snapping_ sound echoing through the clearing. The soldier let out a loud laugh as he continued to twist the Raptor's head, before tearing it off its body… like one would a chicken's head.

The man in the black suit clenched his fist tightly and rushed towards the soldier, yelling as he did. The soldier stood and turned in one fluid motion, but it wasn't enough to stop the man in the black suit slamming his fist into the soldier's face. The red-eyed man's eyes widened as his head snapped back from the punch. But he did not stumble back, instead he froze, still leaning back from the force of the blow.

The man's eyes narrowed as he prepared to strike the soldier again. But the soldier once again reacted too quickly, dropping to the ground, dodging the blow, and sweeping the man's legs out from under him. "Burn motherfucker, burn," the soldier hissed as the man stood from the ground.

The two traded blows, the man just barely managing to keep up with the soldier. He managed to block and counter at the same speed as the highly-trained soldier, but was quickly tiring. But he never once broke through the red-eyed man's guard. The man entered a simple boxing stance, blocking yet another blow to the face, before trying to counter. But the soldier was ready.

The soldier leaned out of the way, dropping into a stance, and hit the backside of the man's arm with only two fingers. The man immediately noticed something was wrong when his arm dropped to his side, absolutely worthless. He panicked and tried to force his arm up, but was unable to do anything as the soldier struck him once, twice, three times in rapid succession in his now defenseless side.

The man stumbled backwards in a desperate attempt to disengage from the soldier, but was unable to get away. The soldier continued his vicious assault, gaining tempo instead of slowing down while the man was reduced to guarding with only one arm. The soldier quickly broke through the man's guard, grabbing his arm, and twisting it wrong so that it too hung limply by his side.

The man doubled over as the soldier struck him once more in the stomach so hard that blood pooled in his mouth. He didn't even have time to spit the blood out of his mouth as the soldier grabbed him by his neck and hoisted him up off the ground, slowly strangling him. The man was unable to grab ahold of the hand that was choking him, but he struggled to the best of his ability. Blood dribbled out of his mouth as he lost oxygen and the will to fight. He was bested.

"You try, but you can't beat me," the soldier grinned widely, a harsh chuckle escaping. He glanced at his allies to see them holding their own against the Raptors. They were still ten strong, while the Raptors' numbers were waning. It was nearly over.

Until there was a loud _thump_ causing the ground to shake. The red-eyed man's eyebrows pulled together in confusion as the ground shook again with another _thump_. He turned to look at Ila to see the girl glaring at him, mouth set in a tight line. He let out a short hiss before the ground shook again, but this time the moving earth was accompanied by a loud _roar!_

Everything seemed to freeze as the soldier turned his attention towards the parting vegetation, revealing, in all its glory, a mighty T-Rex. The Rex's eyes turned glassy as it let out a growl, staring down the red-eyed soldier. The black-jacketed soldier's companions stopped firing and the Raptors stopped coming as Ila focused all her attention on the Rex. "It's over," she growled, the Rex echoing her words with another loud roar.

XXX

"No."

"Claire, you can't say 'no' this isn't something you have control over."

"Then I refuse to believe it," she said, crossing her arms. She stood next to Masrani, who sat behind his desk, across from Sam, who was also seated. Sam pulled several papers from a manila folder and placed them on Masrani's desk.

"I'm afraid this is happening whether you like it or not. And this is something that was going to happen eventually anyways," Sam said, sliding the papers across the desk. The papers contained medical jargon that Masrani couldn't hope to understand, but he glanced at the papers nonetheless.

Claire gulped slowly before whispering, "I know… I just didn't think it would be this soon."

"Yes, well, death isn't something we can control," Masrani sighed, handing the papers back to Sam, who tucked them safely back into their manila folder. It was harder to do with only one hand and a curse escaped her lips when she dropped one of the papers, only for all the others to scatter across the ground when she leaned over to pick up the fallen piece.

Claire and Masrani watched as she struggled to pick up the fallen papers, cursing as she did. They knew that she would not appreciate their help, so they didn't bother asking. Eventually, Sam let out a sigh and placed the manila folder on the ground beside her chair, all the papers held safely inside. "Is there nothing you can do?" Claire asked, her voice wavering just slightly.

Slightly enough that the only one who picked up on it was Sam. "I'm afraid not, we're geneticists, not miracle workers," she snorted, though sometimes it seemed as if they were miracle workers.

"I don't understand… she just finished recovering, why is she dying now?" Claire shook her head, still in a state of disbelief.

"Old age, mostly. She's well over forty years old, it was only a matter of time," Sam said, "Be thankful that it's not a disease of some kind, at least it'll be a peaceful death."

Claire nodded, still taking in what was coming. Masrani spoke up, however, "How much time does she have?"

"It's tough to say," Sam shrugged, "But I'd bet on a month or two. Maybe three if we're lucky, but I doubt any more than that."

Masrani placed his head in his hands, contemplating what he should do. He looked up at Claire and said, "What kind of losses are we looking at after she dies?" He didn't want to consider her as just some ordinary asset, but he had to face the facts. They could be over their heads after she passed.

Claire opened her mouth, but the words died in her throat. She wasn't sure. She had never calculated the number in the event that this happened. She had naïvely thought that it would never happen. Instead, Sam cut in, "I know we've been postponing this for some time… but I think we should start working on a replacement."

Masrani swallowed but nodded in agreement. He had refused to allow another one to be made, as it would be announcing to the world that _she_ was dying. It would be accepting that _she_ would eventually die. Loud knocking brought him out of his contemplation, causing all three of their heads to turn towards the door, Sam practically spinning around in her chair.

Masrani narrowed his eyes, he wasn't expecting any visitors. He didn't immediately say anything, waiting to see if whoever was knocking would try again. The loud knocking sound echoed through the office after half a minute of waiting. It was a strong knock, only three beats before it halted. Whoever was behind that door was important and impatient.

"Come in!" Masrani shouted. He didn't usually close his office door, as he felt it was more inviting to have it open at all times, but he hadn't wanted anyone to walk in on them having this particular conversation. Though he had not locked the door.

The door opened and a single man walked into the room. He wore a military outfit with two stars on each of his shoulders as well as several medals on his jacket. He marched over to Masrani's desk with a typical high ranking military gait, and stopped next to Sam's chair with his back perfectly straight. He wore an army hat on his head, sandy blond hair sticking out under the edges.

His brown eyes flicked between the people around Masrani's desk. He paused for just a moment on Sam, eyebrow raising just the slightest at the sight of her missing arm. Though he decided against commenting on it.

Sam gulped softly, intimidated by the man's very presence. His face was expressionless, only a stern frown in place. She stood from her seat, noticing that she was only a few inches taller than the man, and said, "Right then… I'll go and get to work." She walked briskly out of the room, not stopping to look at the two armed officers that closed the door behind her.

"I apologize for the armed guards, but the following conversation is confidential. What we're about to discuss does not leave this room," the soldier said, placing his hands behind his back, and refusing to sit down.

Masrani and Claire shared a look but nodded in tandem. "Excellent. My name is Major General Hugh Waters," the soldier said, extending his hand for them to shake. Claire went first, while Masrani had to stand so he could lean across his desk.

"What is this about, General?" Masrani asked, retaking his seat. The General placed his hands back behind his back as he addressed Masrani's concern.

"It has come to our understanding that you employed a man named Gordon Freeman a year ago, is that correct?" he said.

"That is correct, though he died last year," Masrani said, hanging his head slightly.

"Yes, we are aware of his untimely death and wish to offer our condolences, however there is something significantly more dire that we need to discuss," he explained. He paused for a moment before taking a seat, deciding that he would rather be comfortable during this conversation.

"And what would that be?" Claire asked, trying her best not to sound malicious.

"I would like to be informed of all Dr. Freeman's activities as an employee of this park, most especially if they relate to the disappearances of former InGen employee Vic Hoskins and the last CEO of InGen, Edward King," the soldier said.

Masrani gave the General a confused look, "I have no idea what Dr. Freeman had to do with Hoskins, we just assumed he had left the island. As for Edward King, we have evidence that he was the one to kill Dr. Freeman, though we aren't sure where he went afterwards."

"There is no evidence that Hoskins ever left this island, and we have been unable to find his body. As for King, we had been tracking him for several days before Dr. Freeman's death, however he disappeared over the Pacific. Would you happen to know why King killed Freeman?"

Claire spoke this time, scowl showing on her face as she growled, "He said he was killing a monster."

A dark look passed across the General's face before it disappeared as quickly as it came. "You seem to be a bit late to investigate the death of Dr. Freeman, it _was_ a year ago," Masrani noted.

"I'm afraid that certain classified things have prevented us from investigating up until now," the General paused, still unsure of what he was going to do about _that_ problem. "Was there anything… strange that happened a few months after Dr. Freeman passed? Anywhere between three and six months?"

Masrani and Claire shared another look before he said, "Actually, there _was_ something odd that happened. None of our geneticists have been able to explain how it happened… but our Indominus laid three eggs about nine months ago, and they hatched about six months ago."

The General's eyebrows rose and he said, "Did Dr. Freeman have any connection with the hatchlings?"

"If you're asking if he artificially inseminated her, we have no proof of that. However, Dr. Freeman was the Indominus caretaker, so he had a connection to her," Claire explained.

The General nodded thoughtfully before commanding, "I'm ordering a sample of each of the hatchlings' blood be taken and handed over to me."

Masrani picked up the phone on his desk and dialed Sam's number. He wasn't sure if she had reached the labs yet, and he hoped it wouldn't be too much of a bother to redirect her to the Indominus paddock to fulfill the General's order as quickly as possible. She picked up, "Yes?" she said on the other end.

"Have you reached the labs yet?" Masrani asked.

"Not quite, why?" The labs were no longer connected to the Innovation Center. Instead, they had been moved a few blocks away. While no one was quite sure how either of the fires had started, the new buildings were equipped with highly advanced fire prevention systems and separated to prevent fires from spreading from one building to the other. Although that meant Sam now had to walk farther from her office in the new lab building to the new Innovation Center every time she had to give a report.

"I need you to make a detour to the Indominus paddock and get me blood samples of the three hatchlings," Masrani explained. He knew that she would have to pass the Rex paddock, and therefore the Indominus paddock, in order to get to the new lab building, so it wasn't too far out of her way.

"Yeah sure, I just passed it. What brought this on?" she asked.

Masrani looked up to see the General say, "Classified," just loudly enough for Sam to hear over the phone.

"All right then…" she said slowly before hanging up, not even bothering to press her luck. She actively avoided the military, due to what she was, and it didn't help that General Waters unnerved her.

"What are you looking for?" Claire asked as Masrani placed the phone back on its receiver.

"Anything," was the General's only response as he stood from his chair and made to leave the room. Masrani and Claire only watched him go, unsure of what to think about him.

XXX

Owen let out a yawn as he made it back into the viewing room. He waited until the patrons had left, but didn't wait any longer than that as he figured Saber wanted him out of her home as quickly as possible. He was surprised she even agreed to letting him in as a human in the first place.

He wasn't sure exactly why he was so exhausted, it was barely noon and with… the other Raptors gone, he didn't have to wake up at obscene times to get to work. He actually found it easiest to sleep in the viewing room of Saber's paddock, though she complained each time he did so. Something about not wanting to compare him to Dr. Freeman. Perhaps it was just stress, though he wasn't sure why he would be stressed.

Life had been going well for him. Despite his dislike of Saber, she had been surprisingly cooperative ever since her children hatched, making working with her easy. Although he had been given monstrous paychecks to train the Raptors, they were based on progress that had been made. The money he was making now, though less than what he had been initially making under the Raptor program, was more than he would be making otherwise. Plus, there was Sam.

His anger for what she and Wu had done to him had long since faded. After he gained control over his Raptor forms, and the fact that it was impossible to create a cure, he had forgiven her and Wu. Not that it stopped Wu from going to prison. Sam was a frequent visitor to Saber's paddock after Sabina, Saphira, and Free hatched, so they had plenty of time to reconcile.

Owen's eyes blinked open lazily as he shut the door to the paddock behind him. He raised an eyebrow when he spotted a single man leaning against the back wall. "You sure it's safe to be in the paddock with that thing?" the man asked, pushing off against the wall, and approaching Owen.

"Uh… the show is over, mister," Owen said. There were several warning signs in the viewing room telling patrons to leave once the show was over.

The man only grinned, shoving his hand in his pocket. "Mister? I seem to recall you calling me 'sir' not that long ago. Did you forget?" he asked, pulling something out of his pocket, "Or do you need a reminder?" Owen's eyes widened when he realized the man was carrying a Raptor claw.

"Dr. Grant?" Owen asked, memories flooding his mind. The hat, the red handkerchief, and the well-tanned skin screamed Dr. Grant. _How did I not recognize him?_ he wondered briefly as he watched a smirk spread across the man's face.

"So you do remember," Dr. Grant said, letting out a short chuckle. He placed the Raptor claw back into his pocket.

Owen let out a sigh, the Raptor claw was the one thing Grant couldn't let go. "Why are you here?" he asked, walking over to his desk, and taking a seat. He motioned towards the chair opposite of his own, Dr. Grant graciously accepted the gesture.

"I know it may surprise you, but I had been following your research on the tamability of Raptors, then of course I heard about what happened to them," Dr. Grant explained, leaning back in his chair.

"And you rushed over here to give your condolences?" Owen asked sarcastically, "You're about a year off, doc."

"Well, not exactly. I had promised myself that I would never go back to this island… but even I couldn't ignore the scientific breakthroughs happening here, so I decided to come and do some research of my own. When I saw what you had gotten yourself into," Dr. Grant paused to chuckle, "I could only think, _oh, I've got to see this!_ "

Owen rolled his eyes as Grant continued, "I did not expect to see you _in the paddock_ with her, though. Isn't the Indominus supposed to be the most dangerous predator on the planet? And she just let you roam around her home like that?"

"Well, she doesn't usually let me do that. You forgot that she's also the most intelligent predator on the planet, maybe even smarter than you or I," Owen said, causing Dr. Grant to snort. "She's over there if you wanna test her." He pointed over to the viewing room window, Grant following his finger.

Grant nearly jumped out of his seat when he saw Saber glaring into the room, her face pressed up against the glass. _How did I not hear her coming?_ Grant wondered. He could see each and every one of her sharp teeth, despite being several feet away from the window. He wondered if, assuming she could even break the glass, reach him from her position. She did have rather long arms… and those sharp talons would likely help increase her reach.

"I notice that her vision isn't based on movement, like a T-Rex," Dr. Grant said slowly. Owen only chuckled at the panicked reaction from the paleontologist. "What is she made of?" he asked.

"We still aren't sure exactly what her genetic makeup is, Wu never said anything and he's sort of… preoccupied at the moment. But I'm fairly certain that there's some Raptor in her, maybe some human as well," Owen explained, getting up from his seat and walking over to the window.

Dr. Grant followed behind him cautiously. "Well, yet another thing Wu needs to answer for," he sighed.

Saber let out a low hiss, she knew exactly what had happened to Wu. Owen noticed her unease and decided to say, "He did answer for it. He's currently in prison." Dr. Grant snorted, as if he expected that answer, clearly not surprised. Saber let out another low growl. "She doesn't like you much, does she?"

Grant shook his head, "I have a feeling it's because I didn't even flinch when she intimidated the crowd, she sees me as a threat." Saber's eyes narrowed as she nodded slowly. Dr. Grant noticed the action and raised an eyebrow, "She can understand us?"

Owen thought for a moment, wondering if he should mention that he could understand her, but decided against it. Instead, he simply said, "It seems to be that way."

"Fascinating," Dr. Grant exclaimed, "In that case, I feel extremely intimidated by you, and I have no intent on harming your hatchlings." He dipped his head ever so slightly, before realizing she likely had no idea what human customs were and that he was trying to be respectful.

Saber flicked her gaze over to Owen before saying, _"That does not mean I trust you, Dirt Man."_ Owen couldn't help the chuckle that escaped his lips as he comprehended the sharp hiss that had come from her.

Dr. Grant turned to face Owen and said, "What's so funny?" He crossed his arms and glared at Owen, who only laughed harder. He looked over at the Indominus and swore that he saw a wide smirk on her face. _I must be seeing things…_ he shook his head. "If she can understand us, have you tried finding a way for her to communicate with us?"

Owen let out a breath as he composed himself. "Not really, she only really tries to communicate if it's an emergency, and I usually get the gist of what she's saying. Her vocal patterns are very similar to a Raptor's," he explained.

Dr. Grant seemed to light up at those words, remembering something he had forgotten. Owen watched as he dug into one of his pockets, not the one he had stuffed the Raptor claw in earlier, and pulled out a strange white object.

"What's that?" Owen asked. He noticed Saber turning away out of the corner of his eye. She, clearly satisfied with the safety of her hatchlings, had no reason to stick around by the viewing room window. She stomped back into the heavy brush and disappeared from view.

"You still have one Raptor left, don't you?" Dr. Grant asked. Owen nodded as he reached out to touch the white object. It was made from some type of plastic. He took it from Dr. Grant's hands and turned it over in his hands, rubbing the smooth plastic. "It's a gift."

"That still doesn't tell me what it is, doc," Owen sighed and tried to hand the piece of plastic back to Dr. Grant. Grant only shook his head, refusing to take it back.

"It's a 3-D print out of a Raptor's resonating chamber, figured you might be in need of something to help communicate," he explained. Owen had half a mind to say that he didn't need the chamber, but he remained silent on the matter. He would humor Dr. Grant at least.

"Don't panic," Owen commanded as he walked over to the large window. Grant only gave him an odd look, but his eyes widened when Owen gripped the edges of the window and _slid_ it open, removing the barrier between the room and the paddock.

Dr. Grant could only stare as Owen leaned out of the window and called out, "Blue!" There was silence for a moment before a furious roar echoed throughout the paddock. Owen rolled his eyes at the sound, he didn't need Saber to reinforce his orders.

"You're not going to let her up here, are you?" Dr. Grant asked, worry evident in his voice. Owen only snorted and shook his head, Blue wouldn't want to be up here anyways. Sometimes he swore that Raptor only wanted to sleep her life away. Though, he supposed, she didn't have much of a life left.

The Raptor made her way into the clearing, taking her sweet time. She halted in the center of the clearing to glare up at Owen, a hiss of annoyance on the tip of her tongue. Though she did not voice her displeasure of being awoken.

Owen, taking a quick glance at Dr. Grant, who only gave him a look of, _go on,_ lifted the resonating chamber up to his lips, covered a few of the holes on the device, and blew through the end. A long, deep sound was produced from his breath, echoing throughout the room, and reaching the Raptor's ears in the paddock. Owen nearly immediately stopped blowing when he realized what he had just said. And Blue realized it too.

A red tinge rose on Owen face as he turned slightly to see a huge grin spread across Dr. Grant's face. "I do know that call… that's a mating call," he chuckled. Owen was well aware of what he had just said, and Dr. Grant could see it on his face. Owen turned back to stare at Blue, wondering what her reaction would be.

He waited with bated breath as Blue froze, staring blankly at him, not even twitching. She was so shocked that the fact that human Owen was speaking like Raptor Owen completely passed over her head. _Mating…_ the thought reverberated through her. That's what she's been missing.

Ever since the death of her sisters, she had felt empty and void of life. She wasn't sure what was left or why she should remain. Now she realized what was missing, a mate and hatchlings of her own. It seemed to cheer White One up, could it not do the same for her? There was only one problem, there were no males to mate with.

 _That's not true,_ she looked up at Owen in the viewing room and imagined the red-scaled Alpha in his place. She was his beta and he was her alpha, but there was no one else. Didn't it make sense for them to expand the pack once more? So she did the only thing she could think of, she responded back to him. With the same call he had sent to her.

Owen's mouth dropped open as he translated the call, _I want you._ The resonating chamber dropped from his hand, bounced off the floor, and landed inside the paddock. Though he wasn't sure if it was actually safe to go into the paddock and retrieve the gift, not with Blue suddenly taking an interest in him.

He turned to see an equally shocked look on Dr. Grant's face, though his face wasn't nearly as red as Owen's. "Son, you've gotten yourself into a whole mess of trouble. Tell me my ears have stopped working from age and that Raptor did not actually return your call," he said.

"I wish I could say so," Owen mumbled, not at all bothering to quip about his age. Or the fact that he admitted he was old.

"She really sees you as a Velociraptor, doesn't she? Perhaps you've integrated yourself _too_ well as a part of her pack," Grant observed.

"I think she's just losing herself over the loss of her sisters," Owen struggled to come up with a reasonable explanation. He doubted he could just pass it off as Blue joking with him, he could see the intensity in her amber eyes.

Dr. Grant remained silent as he pondered over what Owen had said. It did make sense, to a degree, though there had to be something more to it than that. He didn't get to think much more on the subject as he watched Owen walk over to the door leading to the paddock. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm getting the resonating chamber, I dropped it in the paddock," Owen said, opening the door to the paddock.

"Is that a good idea?" Dr. Grant asked, concerned for Owen's safety. Even if he could stand in the paddock with a fifty-foot lizard hybrid with her hatchlings swarming him for treats, it did not mean he would be as well off with a Velociraptor.

"She's not going to hurt me," he said, though Grant got the feeling he didn't quite believe himself. But Owen squared his shoulders, trying to give off a vibe of confidence, and descended the steps leading to the paddock, shutting the door behind him.

"Fine, your funeral," Dr. Grant mumbled as the door shut behind Owen's retreating form. He raised an eyebrow when he heard the sound of a door opening. He turned around to see the door to the viewing room opening and a young woman entering the room. She shut the door behind her and froze when she saw Dr. Grant. The most immediate thing that stood out to Grant was her missing arm.

XXX

"Is that so?" the red-eyed soldier hissed, turning his head to glare at Ila. He was still holding the man in the black suit a foot off the ground, slowly strangling the life out of him. A tiny smirk graced itself on Ila's face when she saw the immense frustration on the soldier's features.

"Drop him," she commanded. She glanced back over to the soldiers to see them warily glancing at the Rex, wondering what they were going to do. The Raptors had backed off, but were still in the clearing. They wouldn't be able to engage the Rex without ignoring the Raptors.

"As you wish," the red-eyed soldier said, dropping the man in the black suit. The man hit the ground, but his legs buckled under him, sending him to his knees. He gasped and wheezed, trying to get air back into his lungs, but his windpipe had been damaged. His mind spun as he slowly regained his breath, not strong enough to push himself off the ground.

"Lay down your arms," Ila commanded to the soldiers, who immediately complied by setting their weapons down on the ground in surrender. They raised their hands, knowing that they had been beaten. But the red-eyed soldier only glared at the Rex, as if contemplating the best way to deal with this challenge.

"Surrender!" Ila cried out, worry shading over her features. Surely no one was insane enough to go toe-to-toe with a Rex without a weapon of any kind? She had the Rex move forward a few paces, hoping to intimidate the red-eyed soldier.

Those red eyes widened and a feral grin spread across his mouth as he saw weakness in the Rex's step. He didn't bother turning to regard Ila as he stepped around the still kneeling man in the black suit and stared down the Rex. He reached for the zipper to his jacket, stripping it from his body slowly and deliberately. "The Assyrian came down like the wolf on the fold, and his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold; and the sheen of their spears was like stars on the sea, when the blue wave rolls nightly on deep Galilee," the soldier hissed to himself.

Underneath the jacket was a blood-red t-shirt with splotches of white showing through, as if the shirt had been dyed poorly. "Sir!" one of the soldiers shouted out, as if concerned that his commanding officer was just going to throw his life away. The red-eyed soldier ignored his comrade, cracked his neck, and lowered himself in a sprinting position.

"Like the leaves of the forest when Summer is green, that host with their banners at sunset were seen: like the leaves of the forest when Autumn hath blown, that host on the morrow lay withered and strown," he continued to whisper to himself.

The man in the black suit managed to shift himself to stare at the soldier preparing to charge at the Rex. He couldn't quite comprehend what was happening, a human staring down one of the most deadly and dangerous predators in all of history. And Ila could scarcely believe it either as she prepared to have the Rex charge at its foe.

Then the soldier practically shouted in his deep voice, "For the Angel of _Death_ spread his wings on the blast, and breathed in the face of the foe as he passed; and the eyes of the sleepers waxed deadly and chill, and their hearts but once heaved… and forever grew _still!_ " Then he took off at a blinding speed one would not think possible by a human.

The Rex let out a roar in response as it too charged at the human, the slightest limp in its step from a long-forgotten injury. And thus the deadliest game of chicken every conceived began. The human only gained speed as he crossed the hundred-meter gap that had laid between him and his foe.

The Rex leaned down and opened its maw wide, planning of bisecting the human, but it never got the chance. Just before those sharp teeth got ahold of the red-eyed soldier he jumped to his left, completely avoiding the Rex's bite. The Rex's jaws snapped shut, hitting air, but the soldier didn't stop.

He lowered himself into a ramming position just as the Rex's lame right leg hit the ground, shifting all its weight on that one appendage as the human slammed into it. Blood, muscle, and bone exploded out the back of the Rex's leg, completely shattering it beyond repair, as the soldier impacted the leg with his shoulder.

Ila, the man in the black suit, and each and every one of the soldiers watched in horror as the mighty beast let out a pained wail and collapsed to the ground, sliding slightly from its leftover momentum. The red-eyed soldier emerged completely unscathed from behind the fallen Rex, red eyes blazing with a violent fire.

"And there lay the steed with his nostril all wide, but through it there rolled not the breath of his pride; and the foam of his gasping lay white on the turf, and cold as the spray of the rock-beaten surf," the soldier growled as he rounded on the Rex's head.

He regarded the pleading gaze in the Rex's eyes, having been freed from Ila's control the moment its leg had been shattered. He pretended to consider granting the Rex mercy, glancing over at Ila's terrified expression, disbelief on her face. That feral grin on his face didn't once diminish, however, as he turned back to the Rex and held up his right arm.

And plunged it directly into that pleading stare. He drove his fist as deep as his shoulder into the Rex's head, completely destroying its once magnificent golden gaze and piercing its very brain. The Rex shuddered violently as it lost control of its motor cortex and died a slow, painful death.

The soldier pulled his arm from the Rex's eye socket with a sucking sound, blood dripping from the entire length of the appendage. "And there lay the rider distorted and pale, with the dew on his brow, and the rust on his mail: and the tents were all silent, the banners alone, the lancers unlifted, the trumpet unblown," he said as he approached Ila.

He passed the man in the black suit, not even bothering to stop and finish him off. The man noticed, however, that tattoos ran up and down the length of the soldier's arms. Tattoos of chains. The man shivered as the soldier passed him, spotting another tattoo on the back of his neck. _T5721?_ the man pondered, but couldn't find the words to say anything.

The soldiers picked their arms and mowed down the rest of the Raptors with ease as the red-eyed soldier approached Ila slowly. As the last Raptor was put out of its misery, the soldiers pointed their weapons at the little girl, only for them to freeze in place. She had taken control of them again, but her hold was noticeably weaker than before, though they were still unable to break free.

The soldier stood before Ila, who resisted the urge to back away from him. "And the widows of Ashur are loud in their wail, and the idols are broke in the temple of Baal; and the might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword, hath melted like snow in the glance of the Lord," the soldier whispered so that only he and Ila could hear.

She flinched away from him when he raised his blood-soaked hand to touch her. He lashed out quickly, however, catching her before she could run by grasping her chin. A chill passed through her entire body, hollowing her out, and taking from her, her perception. The world seemed to drop out from under her feet as she lost control of her powers, letting the soldiers go against their will.

She couldn't say a word. She couldn't even cry out as each thought that tried to grace itself in her mind was viciously absorbed. She couldn't even reach out to touch the alien presence that had touched her chin, it wasn't there. There was nothing there. And now she was lost in that nothing. But he could hear the red-eyed soldier's voice against the cacophony of silence, "You are mine now, Miss Ila King."

XXX

 **Ah, that was a fun chapter, wasn't it? The poem that T5721 was reciting during the battle against the Rex is called "The Destruction of Sennacherib" by Lord Byron. We're slowly connecting the pieces, aren't we? The man in the red handkerchief is revealed to be Dr. Grant! And Blue figures out what she's been missing this entire time, slowly starting down the path of recovery… though I'm not sure how on-board Owen will be. And we get to see Ila lose to the red-eyed soldier. T5721… I wonder what the T stands for… and what about our other unnamed character? The man in the black suit, surely, he has a name as well! All that and more, stay tuned until next time!**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 3 – Blood Rain:

Author's Note:

 **"** **But she could hear the red-eyed soldier's voice against the cacophony of silence," I like that quote… after an ending such as last chapter, I'm sure you're all dying to see what's going to happen to Ila and Owen… but I'm afraid we're starting in the past once again. I'm sorry, but it's not going to be the last time either. We begin with Mary, right after she escaped from the hospital…**

XXX

 _An electrifying sensation that could not be quantified with human terms shot through my body by the mere touch of his immensity. With that flash of purple, every nerve inside me was set on fire. Paralysis set in, I couldn't move. The ecstasy faded and I was left wallowing in the darkness, alone._

She gripped her head, yet another headache. They had been a common sensation that plagued her after her escape. They would strike randomly, followed by visions and feelings of places and things she didn't remember experiencing. The headaches wracked her body with pain, forcing her to curl up into a fetal position while gripping her head, hoping that she didn't scream out in pain.

She had made it. She just had to keep moving, she wasn't sure how long the General would be chained to that desk. She took a few deep breaths, slowing her heart down to its normal speed. Her eyes opened slowly to regard the world once again.

People passed her by, giving her odd looks, but didn't bother to stop and ask what was wrong. She had collapsed a few blocks from the hospital. She sucked in a breath as she hoisted herself up off the ground, the hospital gown hung loosely on her skin. _How did no one stop me?_ she pondered quietly, but didn't dote on it. She had to keep moving.

She moved passed the crowd and made it deeper into the city. She pushed her way through groups of people, not caring for their complaints, as she tried to figure out where she was and where she should go. She stared up at the large buildings and the aggregations of people, she was completely lost.

 _What year is it?_ she wondered. She looked around, trying to find someone to pester about the date, but everyone completely ignored her when she tried to grab their attention. She couldn't quite remember what the doctor had told her, then again, she couldn't even remember what year it was when the accident happened.

"Sir? Sir? Could you please-" she tried to say to a passing man in a polo shirt. But he didn't bother stopping, not noticing her presence. "Tell me what today is," she growled as she turned towards the street. It seemed to be hopeless, no one was going to help her.

 _Selfish assholes,_ she sighed, shaking her head. They only cared about their coffee and newspapers, going through life as if no one else existed. She ground her teeth together and cried out, "Goddamn it! What is today?!" Making a scene might draw some attention to her.

Not a single person looked up from their position, nor did they even pause in their step. They just kept going through the motions, unaware of anything strange going on around them. A cool breeze blew through the city, cutting her to her core. She drew her arms against her chest, trying to preserve what little warmth she had with the thin hospital gown.

But it was hopeless as she let out a shiver from the breeze. It was sunny out and at least seventy degrees, but a single cool breeze seemed to be freezing through the fabric of the hospital garb. "Am I just going to freeze to death when it gets cold at night?" she pondered aloud, realizing that she had no shelter.

"I doubt it's going to drop below fifty tonight, you'll be fine," she heard a voice next to her. She hesitated before looking over to her right to see a young, bored-looking man staring at her with a deadpan expression.

She immediately looked down at her feet, she hadn't thought anyone would hear. Or care to hear, at least. Was this the one kind soul left in the city? "Oh," she let out a small sound.

He gave her a kind smile, "Why is it that you're in nothing but a hospital gown?"

"I… may have r-ran from someone," she said. She didn't want to give away too much, lest the man deem her a lost cause and leave her. Or worse, take her back to the hospital, claiming she had some sort of mental breakdown.

He raised an eyebrow, but didn't press any further, "Do you have somewhere to go?"

"I… don't know," she admitted. She turned to him and asked, "Do you happen to know what year it is?"

He gave her another smile, "It's 2018, miss…"

She didn't answer him. She took a few steps backwards in shock, bumping into someone walking by. She was knocked to the ground, but the man she bumped into only growled at her for not paying attention before walking away. "Five years… it can't be… five years," she remembered now. She remembered what the doctor had said.

"Five years for what, miss?" the man asked, extending a hand to help her up. She accepted the gesture and he pulled her off the ground. He watched as she dusted herself off before shivering again when another breeze passed through the area.

She only shook her head, refusing to answer his question. He let out a tired sigh before saying, "Do you have a place to stay, miss?" She shrugged, she didn't know. She wished she could just go back to her parents' house, but she couldn't remember where they were. And even if she could, there was no guarantee they would still be there after five years.

"Do you want to come with me? I have a place you can use until you get back on your feet," the man gave her another kind smile. She nodded vigorously, she did want to go with this kind man. He, out of everyone in this city, had stopped and helped. He was the last altruistic soul in this place.

He grabbed her arm gently and began to drag her away from the street corner. She followed enthusiastically, hardly able to keep up with him as he navigated the maze-like streets easily. She was panting by the time they reached his car. It was a simple white, four-door sedan parked in a parking garage only a few blocks away from the hospital.

They climbed into the car and he started it. He turned to her and said, "I'm sorry, I got a bit ahead of myself before, I'm offering you a place even though you don't even know who I am!" He gave her a wide smile, "My name is Michael, but you can just call me Mike."

She returned the smile and said, "My name is Mary." He didn't give her his last name, so she would not give him hers. She trusted the man, he was giving her a place to stay, but some information was better kept to herself.

"Mary it is then!" he grinned and pulled out of the parking space. The drive was not silent, Mike spent the time talking about himself. She never got much of a chance to speak, even if she wanted to. She learned all about his job, his life, and even about his family.

"I'm not married, you know," he winked at her quickly before glancing back at the road. She stared at him blankly, not sure why he said that. He saw her expression and shook his head quickly, "Oh, no… no, I didn't mean that! I mean… you are very attractive, but I would've helped any lost, confused soul on the side of that road, you know."

She let out a quiet sigh of relief, for a moment her entire perception of him was ruined. She was flattered that he found her attractive, but she didn't want to be an exception to an otherwise selfish rule. He chuckled at her expression as the car pulled out of the city.

"So, what about you? Got any family?" he asked carefully, having noticed her silence throughout the trip.

"I have a sister," she mumbled, just loud enough for him to hear. She watched a grin spread across his face, he just seemed to be happy to hear her voice. "But I have no idea where she is." She watched that grin melt from his face from her words.

She looked down at her feet, upset that she had stolen his happiness. The General had told her that her sister was missing, that she vanished. _What if she's dead?_ she wondered quietly. "Hey, I'm sure your sister is fine. Right now, you just need to focus on you, you can worry about your sister after you've gotten back on your feet," the man said, placing his hand on her shoulder.

She gave him a small smile and turned back to the road. The rest of the drive was quiet as she observed where they were going. He followed the road for what seemed like miles, but then suddenly turned off the road and onto a dirt path that lead into a forest. She gave him a confused look, but he reassured her with, "I have a nice summer cabin here you can stay at. I know it's a bit out of the way, but once you rest up and recollect yourself, we can go doing whatever it is that you need to do."

She nodded and stepped out of the car once she heard the doors unlock. She shut the door behind her and waited for him to step out of the car and take the lead. He waved his hand at her, an order to follow, before walking towards the cabin. She took a single step, intent on following him, but halted, rooted to the spot. Pain rippled through her brain, sending her down to the ground, clutching her head, and screaming in agony.

 _It was dark for the longest of times. So long that I feared I had died. But I inevitably opened my eyes to regard the world once again. And yet, everything seemed to have changed. How long was I out? Why is everything purple?_

 _Deep breaths,_ she repeated to herself as she came to once again. Yet another headache and vision, barely even an hour from the last one. The ringing in her ears began to fade with the pain and she could hear Mike yelling her name, "Mary! Mary!"

She blinked a few times, sharpening her field of vision. She looked up to see the blur above her clear and reveal he was bending down and shaking her. "What?" she asked when she found her voice. She struggled out of his grasp and pushed herself to her feet. She wobbled, but remained standing.

"What? What do you mean what! You collapsed, screaming, and gripping your head!" he all but shouted. She opened her mouth to say something, but closed it and ended up just shrugging. She had no idea what was going on. He shook his head, trying to stay calm, "Let's get you inside."

He let her lean on him as he helped her inside the cabin. She didn't need help, but with him holding her, there was no chance she would fall to the ground and risk another headache. He shut the door with his foot and led her to a chair.

It was nearly impossible to see in the cabin, it was pitch black. There didn't seem to be any lightbulbs hanging from the ceiling nor where there any lanterns. She watched, or at least tried to, as he walked over to one of the walls and started fiddling with something. She heard that creaking of a wheel being turned and the rush of propane leaving its canister.

He lit a match and dropped it into a fireplace, the gas immediately catching on fire, lighting the entire cabin. He turned the wheel again, closing the valve that let the propane out just slightly to lower the flame to manageable levels. "There we go, now we can see. I try not to use lightbulbs here, I want it to feel as natural as possible, I guess," he admitted.

She watched in the dim light as he went around the small cabin, lighting candles as he went. He pointed out each room he went into, even though she never moved from her spot on the chair. The living room area she was in was connected to the kitchen, there were two bedrooms and a bathroom, as well as a small cellar that he only pointed to as he came back from the second bedroom.

"Here, try this on," he said as he approached her, holding up a beautiful red dress. It was a single piece, nothing complex, and looked like it might be a bit big on her. She was fairly short, barely even five foot six.

She took the dress from him, finally getting out of the chair, and gave him a confused look. "Where'd you find this?" she asked.

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I may not be married, but I have had girlfriends, they tend to leave their stuff here from time to time. And I guess I keep it out of spite… or hope."

She gave him a smile and disappeared into one of the bedrooms, shutting and locking the door behind her. She didn't trust him that much. She stripped the hospital gown from her body and slipped the dress over her head. She didn't have any undergarments, but the dress was better than the gown.

It fit her rather well, even if it was a bit big. But it wasn't slipping off her body, so she went with it. Besides, it did look rather nice. She stepped out of the room, not bothering to shut the door behind her, to see Mike rushing around the kitchen, looking for something. He paused and turned to look at her when he heard the door open, "Oh, you look great! Hungry?"

She nodded enthusiastically. She took a seat at one end of the large table and waited patiently for him to finish whatever he was working on. "I'm sorry, provisions are a bit low. I should stock up tomorrow," he explained as he set a plate down in front of her.

It was fairly simple, just a sandwich and a few chips. She shrugged, he clearly had not expected company tonight. Or to even come to the cabin at all, otherwise he would've stocked up on supplies. She bit down into the sandwich, just grateful to have something to eat while he went back over to the counters.

She ate quickly, not bothering to pretend she had any table manners. She was starving and she hadn't eaten real food in _five years_. She saw him walk back over to her out of the corner of her eye. He set a glass of wine down in front of her and took a seat next to her with a glass of wine for himself in his hands.

"The one thing I do have is plenty of wine. You are 21, right?" he snorted as he took a sip. She nodded and did the same, trying hard not to gulp down the entire glass. She had forgotten how good wine tasted. "So, tell me what's going on, maybe there's something else I can do to help alongside giving you a place to stay and feeding you."

She chewed a large piece of the sandwich slowly before swallowing the entire mass. She noticed his eye twitch slightly, but he didn't comment. She let out a sigh, picking up the glass of wine and taking another sip, before saying, "I can't tell you."

He raised an eyebrow, "Why not?"

She shook her head, she didn't want to drag anyone else down with her. "It's classified," she said. The military wanted to lock her up because she knew classified information, she was a leak, and telling Mike would only get him locked up too.

"Whatever you say, my dear," he eventually shrugged, draining the entire glass, and leaning back in his chair. He watched her finish the rest of the sandwich and drink the rest of the wine. She didn't touch the few chips on the plate.

She opened her mouth to say something, but put a hand against her head instead. She blinked rapidly a few times, before shaking her head softly. "Is something wrong?" he asked, though his voice lacked the concern she would've expected from him.

Black spots descended over her vision as she nearly fell from her chair. She shook her head again, trying to fight off the oncoming darkness, but only succeeded in buying a few second. "I'm not sure… I feel-" she tried to say, but her tongue felt like lead in her mouth.

"Tired?" Mike said, smirk starting to form on his face. She managed to give him a confused look before slumping over in her chair, eyes desperately trying to stay open. "I know. That's what the drug is supposed to do."

He leaned over to her, grasping her chin, and said, "You have such beautiful eyes, violet is such a rare color, I just had to make you mine." He chuckled when she shook her head rapidly and mumbled something incomprehensible as she tried to get away from him. She only succeeded in falling out of her chair and landing on the floor, before going completely numb.

 _I told him my name and he told me his. It wasn't like I trusted him, but I had no other options available to me. Besides, he seemed to give me hope. Hope for the future, hope for purpose, hope for revenge. There seemed to be few downsides…_

The man shook his head in disappointment. This one went down much easier than the last one. He let out a sigh, _too bad I didn't find out about that classified information. It might've been useful._ He shrugged to himself, it didn't seem to matter. She was down, and now she was his.

But he wondered if it was worth killing this one when he was done with her. If she had classified information, then she was probably worth a lot to a lot of different powerful people. He thought for a moment and decided that she was worth a pretty penny, thus he would keep her alive. And when he was done with her… he would sell her to the highest bidder.

He snickered to himself and approached her prone form. He would admit that the red dress did look wonderful on her, even if it was slightly too big for her. He shook his head, it didn't matter. The dress wouldn't be remaining on her much longer.

He bent down to pick her up before startling when she twitched violently. He narrowed his eyes, she should be completely paralyzed, she shouldn't be able to move at all. His eyes widened when hers snapped open and then narrowed when they regarded him. _Shit, how did the drug not work?_ he backed away from her, but she didn't get up off the ground.

He let out a sigh of relief, she was still paralyzed, even if she was awake. He would have several choice words to give his dealer the moment he was done with her. _This might turn out to be more fun, however,_ he grinned. Maybe it would be better for her to be awake during this.

He approached her again, chuckling as he did, no longer worried about her retribution. She could do nothing. Or so he thought. He didn't notice it at first, as his heart was beating too quickly from panic, but his chest was starting to feel tight. When he went to pick her off the ground, instead of bending over like he wanted, he collapsed to the ground.

He coughed loudly, covering his mouth with his hands, hitting the ground on his knees. He looked at his hands, his vision fading in and out, and saw the blood that covered them. He barely had time to question what had happened before he began coughing uncontrollably, hacking up blood as he did.

"What's happening?" he wondered aloud as his chest tightened further, blood pouring from his mouth. He looked over at Mary to see her staring intensely at him. It didn't take long for him to put two and two together as he felt something give within him. He gasped loudly as his lungs burst from the pressure. He managed to squeak, "What are you doing?" before he could speak no more.

He felt his feet leave the ground as he began to levitate in the air, though he was too busy trying to catch his breath that he was unable to truly grasp his current situation. He gripped his shirt, tearing it from his body, revealing that his chest was caving inwards. _Oh shit…_ was his last thought as his entire midsection was crushed like an insect, blood raining down from the breaks in his skin from the pressure.

 _I could barely grasp the power that flowed through me. He taught me what it meant to be such a being, he taught me how to use this gift, he taught me things the monster that made me could never achieve. I was different, even among those of my kind. I had power that no one else had, and I loved it._

Her eyes opened slowly. She pushed herself off the ground and immediately noticed the blood everywhere. Her eyes opened wide when she saw the crushed corpse of Mike… she shook her head, that probably wasn't his real name. _He drugged me… so how did he die?_ the thought echoed within her, but was quickly replaced by a different one. And she wasn't sure what to feel about this one.

 _I'm a murderer_

XXX

"Right… well, I'm Dr. Alan Grant," he said, stepping closer to the woman that had frozen by the door. They had stood there, staring at each other for several minutes before he had broken the silence. He carefully held out his right hand for her to shake.

She stretched out her arm and returned the handshake before the appendage immediately dropped to her side. "Dr. Samantha Bell, you can stop staring at my arm now," she said, smirking slightly. She walked away from the door and towards the open window, lab coat fluttering slightly behind her.

"I'm sorry, it's just that you don't see a one-armed woman every day," Grant smirked and approached the window as well. They both looked down to see Owen stepping out of the doorway and walking towards the dropped resonating chamber. Blue had disappeared from sight. "How did it happen?"

"Accident," she hissed, leaning against the wall next to the window. Dr. Grant didn't need to know about the King incident, nor the other Indominus. "What's he doing in the paddock?" she asked casually.

"Being an idiot," Grant sighed, watching Owen pick up the resonating chamber and stuff it into his pocket.

Sam let out a laugh, "Yeah, that sounds about right. So, how do you know our resident Raptor tamer?" A smirk started to rise on Sam's face when she spotted Blue in the heavy brush, slowly stalking her way towards Owen.

"More like Raptor breeder," Dr. Grant snorted as they watched Blue tackle Owen, slamming into his back, and drag him down onto the ground. "His parents worked with me at a dig site some twenty years ago."

 _BLUE!_

Sam burst out laughing again as Blue seemed to let Owen go, but pounced on him again before he could army crawl more than a foot away from her. They watched her grab his shoulder with her claws and flip him over so he was on his back. "Are you going to help him?" he asked as Owen struggled to fight Blue off, only to nearly lose his hands to her sharp teeth.

"Nah, he's fine," she waved away Owen's current predicament. She grabbed the window and began dragging it back into place, latching it shut as she did. Dr. Grant let out a sigh of relief, although the Indominus was nowhere in sight it still unnerved him to have the window open.

 _SAM!_

She completely ignored Owen's voice, instead walking over to his desk. She sat down behind it, Grant taking the seat across from her. "I'm just going to wait until that whole fiasco is over with, then I'll get what I came for," she explained.

Grant had half a mind to tell her to go help Owen, but didn't say anything else on the matter. If she was confident he could handle himself, then Grant had no right to force her to do anything. Besides, he doubted Blue would hurt Owen anyways. "So why are you here?" he asked, leaning back in his chair.

She rolled her eyes, "I'm here to take blood samples of the three Indominus hatchlings." She wondered if the order to extract the samples was supposed to be confidential, but shrugged it off. If it was, Masrani would've said so.

"So, are you their caretaker? Their vet?" Grant asked, leaning forward, and placing his hands on his desk, suddenly more interested in Sam. He had a few questions about the Indominus that she might be able to answer.

She noticed his rapid change in demeanor and said, "I'm a geneticist, but I'm the only one they allow to do anything to." She watched the grimace grace Grant's face and narrowed her eyes. _So, he doesn't like geneticists,_ she concluded.

"Geneticist, huh? Would you happen to know who replaced Dr. Wu?" he asked, leaning away from her again. It was silent in the room, except for Owen's yelling from the paddock.

"That would be me," she hissed, scowl firmly in place.

One of his eyebrows rose, but didn't question why they let a one-armed woman run the labs. He didn't care who it was, just that he got to speak to him/her. "I have a few questions about the Indominus. Oh, what was her name…" he fumbled, but Sam answered before he could come up with the correct answer.

"Saber," she hissed.

"Yes, Saber," he said, nodding to himself as if reassuring himself that he knew it all along. "I would just like to be informed of how she became _pregnant_."

"I don't know," Sam admitted. It was only the partial truth, she knew that Saber had been artificially inseminated by Dr. Wu, but she had no idea when Wu had prepared the embryo to be injected into her.

Dr. Grant shook his head, "You have to at least have theories. And of those theories, Dr. Wu should come to mind."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sam ground her teeth together. Saber had been very clear that only Owen and her were to know about Wu, and she didn't want to lose the trust she had built with Saber. Not while her hatchlings were still young and she could dictate who got to take care of them.

Dr. Grant snorted, "I'm sure. As Wu's replacement, he didn't tell you anything?"

"Need I remind you that Wu is in prison?" she growled before growing somber. "And if he had told me anything, I might have been charged as an accomplice."

"And you weren't an accomplice?" he asked. She only snarled at him, causing him to narrow his eyes at her. "Could you perhaps enlighten me on what the Indominus… ah, Saber, is made of?"

"I'm afraid I'm not privy to that information," she said immediately. She still wasn't sure exactly what Saber was made of, it looked like Wu was taking that secret to the grave.

Grant let out a sigh, he could feel the sincerity in that last statement. She wasn't lying. "Very well then," he said, standing from his seat. She stood with him, glaring at him all the while. "I certainly hope you don't make the same mistakes your predecessor did."

Sam saw red and slammed her fist into the desk, creating a loud _bang!_ Dr. Grant raised an eyebrow when he saw the large dent she left behind and stored the information away for a later use. _"Don't speak about him like that! Without Wu, this park wouldn't even exist!"_ she snarled, her Raptor hiss showing through her voice.

It had been a long time since she had let her inner Raptor speak for her, and Grant seemed startled by it. He took a step backwards, recognizing the signs of an aggressive animal, but contained his shock. He had stared down T-Rexes, one girl, though admittedly frighteningly tall, still had nothing on Rexy. Though he was unnerved by the slightest hint of Raptor in her voice, and her bared teeth in a soundless snarl.

"And what a shame that would be," he said, remaining calm. She growled at him, lowering herself slightly. She was losing it, but she wasn't sure if she cared. _How dare he speak about Wu like that! How dare he imply Jurassic World should never have existed!_ her inner Raptor screamed at her. But before she had the chance to pounce on him, the door to the paddock opened and Owen stumbled in, claw marks across his body and shirt torn.

"I've missed something, haven't I?"

XXX

Owen poked his head out into the paddock, checking for Blue. He was confident she wouldn't try anything, but just wanted to be sure. Saber wasn't here to back him up. Blue was nowhere to be found, _she must've ran off,_ he reasoned.

He took a confident step into the paddock, leaving the door open. If something _did_ happen, he wanted to get out as quickly as possible. Besides there were two doors, one that lead up into the viewing room and the other that opened into the paddock, the upper door was still shut. Even if Blue ignored him and tried to go into the viewing room, she wouldn't be able to open the door. Though Raptors could open doors with handles, they couldn't grip knobs very well.

Owen made his way over to the space underneath the window, knowing the resonating chamber had to have landed somewhere near there. Although the resonating chamber was useless to him, as he could speak Raptor fluently without it, it was a gift. And it probably wasn't easy to make either.

Ferns and shrubbery were scattered around the space beneath the viewing window, hiding the resonating chamber from him. He was forced to kneel and shift through the ferns, but it didn't take him long to reveal the white of the chamber. He picked it up and smirked to himself before shoving it in his pocket.

He chuckled to himself as he made his way back to the door, Dr. Grant was worried about nothing. Blue was just joking around, she was gone. He made it to the door, but was unable to step onto the staircase that lead up to the viewing room, for a blue blur slammed into his back, knocking him down.

He hit the ground, stunned, and slid a few feet away from the door from the momentum Blue had hit him with. He could feel her weight on his back. It only took him a few seconds to realize what had happened. "BLUE!" he cried out, partially in surprise, partially in anger. Maybe coming into the paddock _was_ a mistake.

 _"_ _Stop struggling,"_ Blue hissed at him. He refused to follow her commands, he was the _alpha_ , not her. He thrashed and struggled as best he could, with little success. Until he managed to elbow her in the face. Her head snapped back and she fell off of him, allowing him to try and flee.

He only managed to get a few feet towards the door before Blue launched herself at him again. He felt air being forced from his lungs as she landed on him, sharp talons poking into his back, though they didn't break the skin. But her weight didn't stay on him this time, he felt her latch onto his shoulder with her claws and turn him over so that he was on his back.

Now that his face was no longer being pressed into the dirt, he could see the viewing room window. He could see the two faces watching his struggle with Blue, Dr. Grant and Sam. _Sam,_ he realized, trying to punch Blue in the face, only for her to snap at his fingers, nearly taking his entire hand with her.

If Sam was in the viewing room, then she could come and help him. Why wasn't she helping him? She was just watching _with a smirk on her face._ "SAM!" he cried out, hoping to get her to realize that he was in actual danger, that this was not a drill. But she only chuckled and shut the window.

His mouth hung agape as he watched Dr. Grant and Sam walk deeper into the observation room, no longer paying him any attention. Blue realized that they were no longer being watched too, though she could only think, _good, no prying eyes._ She growled at him when he tried to scoot away from her, but he returned her glare and snarled, "Stand down, Blue. I am your alpha."

 _"_ _No,"_ she hissed simply. Her sharp claws tore at his shirt, though she was careful not to break his skin. Still, her talons nicked him in a few places, drawing blood. She didn't bother apologizing. If he would just _surrender,_ then there would be no blood.

He knew he was running out of options. She wasn't listening to his authority, but maybe she would listen to Saber's. With that thought, he sucked in a deep breath and yelled out, "SABER!" as loud as he could.

Her response echoed through the paddock, but she didn't come marching for him. Owen gulped slightly, but he hoped just reminding Blue that Saber was on his side would be enough to make her back off. It wasn't, however, as she redoubled her efforts in clawing at his shirt. _"Saber, Saber, always running to her to back you up. What's the matter, alpha? Do you not trust your own authority?"_ she hissed at him, claws cutting deep into his skin in her anger. _"I want Alpha,"_ she growled.

"I am alpha," he growled, flinching as her talons cut deep.

 _"_ _Not you, Alpha Alpha, the Red One,"_ she growled, pressing into him harder. Owen's eyes narrowed as Blue placed her face directly in his as she hissed at him. He couldn't risk hitting her, not while her claws were snagged in his skin.

But he wouldn't just give up. _"I am the alpha!"_ he growled, pushing up against her as best he could. She bared her teeth at him, gripping him harder with her talons, but he returned the gesture as his eyes flashed red. Omega had come to the rescue.

His struggling finally netting him something as he shoved her off of him. She squealed in surprise as she hit the ground, but was unable to right herself as Owen pinned her by her neck. _"I win,"_ he hissed, Omega's voice echoing his in Blue's language.

 _"_ _You aren't the Red One,"_ she hissed in surprise. She had not expected the Blue One to come to Owen's assistance. Though, now that she thought about it, she wasn't sure what she expected to happen.

 _"_ _No,"_ Owen growled in return. Blue struggled, just like he did, and tried to free herself, but only succeeded in making his grip tighter. _"Stop struggling, you'll only make this worse."_

 _"_ _Let me up!"_ she cried out, lashing out at him with her arms, hoping to force him to let go of her. She coughed and saw stars when he gripped harder. But she did not cease her defiance, shaking her entire body, hoping to throw him off.

 _"_ _No,"_ he sighed. He had no idea what had come over her. One moment, she was moping around, completely depressed, the next she was launching herself at him like some sort of starved madman. _"What's wrong with you?"_

She halted her struggling. _"What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?"_ she growled accusingly. He raised an eyebrow, not sure what she meant. He gave her a glare that enticed her to elaborate, though she didn't reveal much. _"You said you were alpha, you are not acting like alpha."_

His eyes narrowed, _"What does that mean?"_ he hissed.

 _"_ _Alphas are supposed to take care of their pack, you've been neglecting to do so. Do you want me to suffer? Do you enjoy my suffering?"_ she snarled. His eyes widened from the revelation and he let go of her throat.

He stood and took several steps backwards in shock. _Have I been a bad alpha,_ he wondered as Blue stood as well. "Of course I don't like seeing you suffer…" he said, Omega's voice fading from his own.

 _"_ _Then why have you just stared at me as I wallowed in my self-derogation? Why haven't you helped the pack recover its numbers? It isn't a pack with just the two of us,"_ she hissed.

"What do you expect from me?"

 _"_ _I want, no, I need a mate, and you're the only option. So, bring out Red Alpha!"_ she demanded, narrowing her eyes at him again.

Owen could only sigh, "I can't do that." He cringed as a devastated look passed across her features, before it was replaced by her righteous fury.

 _"_ _Then you are not my alpha,"_ she snarled.

"Now hold on a moment…"

 _"_ _No! If you will not act like an alpha, then I will not treat you like an alpha. Get out of my sight,"_ she hissed. He reared back in surprise, he hadn't expected that reaction.

"Blue…" he tried to reach out to touch her, but she stepped away from him. She didn't even regard him as she bolted from him, rushing into the brush, and disappearing from his view. "Well shit…" he sighed. He had just made Blue's situation worse.

He made his way back to the viewing room, no longer worried about Blue jumping him from behind. He had just lost his authority, but that wasn't what upset him the most. He had just lost his last pack member.

He made his way up the stairs and into the observation room to see both Sam and Dr. Grant standing, glaring at each other. He noticed Sam's fist pressed into a dip in his desk. A dip that he didn't remember being there. "I've missed something, haven't I?" he broke the silence.

XXX

She was cold, so cold, and lost to the world. So lost, that she didn't even notice that his touch had left her. The feeling of being dropped back into the world was sickening to her as awareness flooded her eyes. The moment she escaped the void, she realized where she was and what had happened.

The agony on the battlefield crashed into her as she reconnected with the dying souls around her. Whatever had happened to her, she had been completely cut off from her powers. The immense suffering that hit her all at once forced her to her knees as she let out a loud wail. The soldiers turned to look at her, but they didn't bother trying to see what had happened.

The red-eyed soldier walked over to the man in the black suit, who could only glare at him. The soldier grabbed his black camo jacket and slipped it over himself, though he did not zip it up. The man in the black suit tried to push himself off the ground, but found that one of his arms had been dislocated and the other completely paralyzed.

The soldier walked over to him and watched him struggle to get up. Rolling his red eyes, he grabbed the man's dislocated arm and gripped it tight. "Hey… what are you-" the man tried to say, but was cut off when the soldier popped the appendage back into place. The man grunted in surprise from the motion, but found that the arm had been properly reset.

He stared in confusion as the soldier gripped his paralyzed arm next and held it straight. "Paralytic touch is a nasty ability, don't you think? You can't feel a single thing, can you?" the soldier chuckled as the man realized that he could indeed not feel even the soldier's tight grasp on his arm.

The soldier hit the man's arm in a few places in rapid succession, before twisting the appendage in both directions, popping sounds arising from the action. He then pulled the arm, starting at the elbow, then the wrist, then grasping and pulling the man's fingers, popping and cracking following these actions.

The man freed his arm from the soldier's grip and waved it around, finding that he could move his arm just fine again. In fact, it felt better than it ever had before. Though he couldn't say the same thing about his other arm, which still ached from being reset. "Thanks, I guess," the man said, but was interrupted when the soldier gripped one of his lower ribs.

"Penalty," the soldier explained when he saw the man's questioning gaze. There was a loud _snap_ as the soldier broke one of the man's lower ribs. The man's entire body heaved from the pain as the red-eyed soldier walked away.

The soldier walked back over to Ila, bored expression on his face, "Do you understand now? Or should I take _it_ from you again?" Ila's breaths came slowly as she glared at him, hatred welling in her eyes.

"What are you?" she hissed. A frightening grin spread across his face as his jaws parted, revealing slightly sharpened teeth, as if he had a maw full of fangs. A deep chuckle rose from his mouth as Ila took a step back from the madman.

"Nothing, nobody, no one. Like you… though broken," he explained, holding up a single finger. "Though, I have made you experience _exactly_ what sort of torment is contained within me. The fact that question remains on your mind means you _do not understand_. Shall I send you back to the void?"

She shook her head rapidly. She was still nauseous from returning from whatever nightmare realm he had sent her to, with a mere touch. She didn't ever want to go back. "Excellent. In that case, let's move out!" he roared, catching the soldiers' attentions.

They pulled the man in the black suit off the ground and gathered around the red-eyed soldier. "Miss King and I are going to take the lead," he explained. "You, you, and you will all keep to the back with _him_ ," he pointed to the three nearest soldiers. "The rest of you, stay close." And with that, he set out, Ila on his tail.

She didn't dare question his orders, she just knew that he wanted her next to him. She knew that he needed to be close to her in case she tried to use her powers to escape. "Do we really need the witch?" one of the soldiers asked, pointing at Ila, who had caught up to the red-eyed soldier.

He froze, but did not turn around. Ila stopped next to him and noticed his hands curling into fists. "Is that a challenge?" he pondered aloud.

The soldier's reaction was immediate. He shook his head rapidly and said, "No, sir," as fast as he could. He breathed a sigh of relief when the red-eyed soldier nodded his head and set off again, Ila by his side. The soldiers followed behind him, with the man in the black suit and his three guards bringing up the back.

The trek through the jungle was largely uneventful, Ila kept any and all dinosaurs from approaching the group of thirteen. Not that it would've mattered, the soldiers were armed to the teeth and would be able to deal with anything the island had to throw at them. And then there was the red-eyed soldier, who had the strength to bring down a T-Rex on his own, he was a force to be feared, even among battle-hardened soldiers.

The man and his guards lagged slightly behind the rest of the soldiers. The man in the black suit gripped his chest where his broken rib was. It didn't hurt to walk, but it protested when he tried to stand up straight, forcing him to walk bent over, slowing him down. He turned to look at the three soldiers around him, deciding saying something was better than nothing. "So… why do you all work for that asshole?" he asked carefully, though he doubted the soldiers would respond to him.

"We don't," the soldier next to him grunted, to his surprise. The other two nodded in confirmation.

"Then why follow his orders?" the man questioned.

"You don't understand. There's nothing we can do about it, it's either follow his orders or die," the same soldier explained.

"Do you really think he'll kill you?"

One of the other soldiers whirled around, halting as he did, bringing the others to a stop as well. "You still don't get it? _There were fifteen of us when we landed_ ," the soldier growled.

"He killed five of you?"

The soldier shook his head, "There were hundreds of us at the compound in the USA… he slaughtered all but fifteen of us. Then, when we landed, some of us tried a coup, but he killed them too."

"How is that possible? You can't just shoot him to death? He has his back to you," the man in the black suit asked, confused.

The soldiers only shook their heads, "We don't understand either. He just… _ignores_ the bullet wounds. That red on his shirt, _that's his blood_ , not someone else's." A shiver passed through the man in the black suit.

"Move!" the command came from the front, no doubt from the red-eyed soldier himself. The soldiers and the man in the black suit started moving again.

The man in the black suit wasn't entirely surprised by the notion of ignoring one's wounds. King had a companion that couldn't feel pain, in fact, his skin was so tough that lower caliber weapons couldn't even pierce it. Though it didn't look as if the red-eyed soldier had a tough outer shell like the tall Native American had.

"What is he going to do to us?" the man asked the soldiers. He was more worried about Ila than himself, he would do anything to save her.

"We don't know. All we know is that we're headed towards the old InGen compound," one of the soldiers explained. "Look, we aren't any happier about your situation than you are. We're just as much prisoners as you and Miss King."

"Then let's escape!" the man hissed as loudly as he dared. The three soldiers all gave him the same look, _are you insane?_ But the man only said, "If we hit him all at once, we can take him down."

The soldiers shared a look, before one of them said, "That's not going to work. It won't matter if there's ten of us or a hundred, he won't go down that easily."

"There's got to be something we can do," the man said. There had to be some way to save Ila.

"What's your name?" one of the soldiers asked.

"Cooper, James Cooper," the man in the black suit responded.

"Reggie, Chris, John," one of the soldiers said, pointing to his companions first and himself last. "I think it would be best if we bide out time."

"Bide our time? How long will it be until he starts killing us one by one?" the man in the black suit asked cynically. It only made sense. The red-eyed soldier had taken more troops than he needed in case he had to kill a few to maintain loyalty among them. And James was just an extra package, whatever the soldier wanted, it had to do with Ila and not him.

"I know he's a bit volatile, but T5721-" John was cut off before he could finish his thought.

"T5721?" James asked, confused as to why John had referred to the red-eyed soldier by the tattoo on the back of his neck.

"It's a serial number, that's all we know. And it's the only thing he gave us to refer to him as," Chris shrugged. James nodded in understanding while John shot his companion a glare.

"As I was saying, T5721 is a bit volatile, but he's not going to harm Miss King, or any of us as long as we cooperate. The best time to betray him will be when he gets what he wants," John finished.

James raised an eyebrow as he pushed through the heavy brush, the tall buildings of the InGen compound now visible in the distance. "What is it that he wants?" he asked carefully.

"Hell if we know," Reggie growled as he nearly tripped over a large root.

"All we know is that he needs Miss King for something," Chris explained.

"And whatever it is that he's hunting… it isn't here," John finished.

"So, then, where is it? Surely you must know something?" James asked as he batted a large fern out of his face. They were coming up to the compound gate, which was open wide. He and Ila had been staying in one of the buildings, Ila's powers keeping the dinosaurs out, so they never felt the need to shut the gate.

John sighed, "All we know is that whatever it is, is at Jurassic World."

XXX

 **There we go, another chapter down. Mary had herself in a spot of trouble, but her dormant power activates to save her once again. Dr. Grant and Sam have a chat, though it doesn't look like they like each other that much, do they? Probably has something to do with Grant's experience with the original Jurassic Park. Owen managed to fight Blue off, though not without damaging his relationship with her. Oh dear… that's not going to be easy to fix. Though… I could think of some 'M' rated things that might work, heh. And Ila has gotten herself captured, along with the man in the black suit, who has finally gotten his name revealed! James Cooper, yet another random name from the random name generator. Though what T5721 plans to do is still unknown, we can assume phase one, capture Miss King, is complete. Stay tuned to see what happens next!**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 4 – Bound by Blood:

Author's Note:

 **All right, this chapter is going to be interesting. And I'll apologize in advance for this in saying… this one is shorter than the last few. With that in mind, let's kick it right off! Please, enjoy!**

XXX

Both Sam and Dr. Grant turned to him, but only Dr. Grant replied, "Not really. I was just leaving." Owen watched as Dr. Grant tipped his hat slightly in farewell, before he backed out of the viewing room, not taking his eyes off Sam. Sam couldn't suppress the snarl that passed through her lips as the door shut, Dr. Grant was gone.

"What did you do to freak him out like that?" he asked, pointing at the door. "Is that a dent in my desk?"

"I didn't do anything… we just had a little disagreement. And this isn't your desk," Sam sighed, collapsing into the chair again. She let out a deep breath as she blinked the rage from her vision. It had been a long time since she had gotten that angry.

"So it's an inheritance, I can still consider it mine," Owen grumbled as he took the chair Dr. Grant had been occupying. He glanced himself over, sighing at the torn shirt and pants, and groaning from the sight of blood. The claw marks stung, and they bled quite a bit, but they weren't going to kill him.

"Well it would just be rotting in that paddock without you, so I guess you're putting it to some use. And technically, the desk was paid for by Jurassic World, so it wasn't _his_ desk either," Sam pointed out, reclining in the admittedly comfortable chair.

"Because it really matters who's desk it is… you put a pretty big dent in it," Owen sighed. "And you know Saber doesn't see this as anything but _his_ desk. I'm sure she'll be thrilled to find out you damaged it."

"She has no reason to find out," Sam shrugged. The last thing she needed was Saber to become angry at her. She was so volatile… the next few minutes were spent in silence as Sam pondered what would happen _if_ Saber was to find out she had damaged the last remnant of Dr. Freeman. It wouldn't be pretty, that's for sure.

Eventually, Sam let out a sigh and put a smirk on her face, "So, how'd it go with Blue?" Owen's gaze immediately snapped back onto Sam. He had been just staring at the dent, but she reminded him of something.

He was furious with her. "Yeah, about that," he growled, "You couldn't have helped me with her?"

She only rolled her eyes, "With Dr. Grant watching? That's enough of a spectacle on its own though, a one-armed woman pulling a Raptor off of a man?" She watched as he arched an eyebrow high in the air, causing her to sigh, "It wasn't supposed to be malicious, if that's what you think."

Owen looked stunned at that, "Really? I watched you and Dr. Grant _laughing_ at me as a Raptor tried to _rape_ me!"

She snorted, "Rape is a strong word, here." He only glared at her, but she continued nonetheless. "I distracted Dr. Grant in case you needed to turn. Obviously, we couldn't let him know you're a _wereraptor_."

"Then what is the right word, Sam? Love bites?" he growled, crossing his arms.

"It's probably more appropriate than rape, Owen. You forget, I could hear her too… at least during the act. I have no idea what set her off, though," she shrugged.

"I have no idea… Dr. Grant gave me this," he pulled the resonating chamber out of his pocket, "and I may have imitated a mating call with it. She just… responded to it."

She stifled a chuckle at Owen's hard glance. "Well fucking duh! Pack dynamics, Owen, I thought this was _your_ thing and I wouldn't have to explain it to you. It's logical that she'd want to expand the pack after her sisters died! I'm surprised she didn't think of it until now," she said.

Owen mumbled a profanity and placed his head in his hands. "What did you do to her?" Sam hissed. Owen shook his head, refusing to respond, as if the gravity of his situation was just hitting him. "You shunned her advances, didn't you?"

"Well what was I supposed to do, Sam? Just give in?" he growled, removing his head from his hands. Only to see Sam glaring at him from his outburst.

"Yes."

His eyes widened from her completely serious expression. She wasn't joking. "Come again?" he asked hesitantly.

"I said you should've gone with it, make her happy again. God knows how often you complain about her depression to me, Owen, but I'm not a psychologist. She just handed you the ticket to her own salvation, and you tore it up in front of her face," she explained. "I wouldn't be surprised if she killed you on sight."

"Would you?" Owen asked, leaning back in his chair.

"If I were Blue, yes, I would kill you on sight."

"No… if you were in my position, as alpha of a pack of two, and Blue was a male, would you mate with him?" Owen asked seriously, crossing his arms again.

Sam mimicked the action and said, "You know what? I would." Owen raised an eyebrow, so she continued. "You have to understand, Owen, that those… _things_ in your head… they're _your_ instincts, not Raptor instincts. They're human Id and Superego, I have _real_ Raptor instincts, Owen. And when push comes to shove, I obey them."

Owen groaned loudly, deep down he had expected that response from her. She always was more in tune to her Raptor side… now he knew why. Though, that didn't mean all was lost. "Is there any way you can create a new clutch of Raptor eggs? You know, maybe that'll help reconcile with Blue," he asked.

She slapped her hand to her forehead, "Of course! Why didn't I think of that? You know, because the lab is _never_ busy and we'd be _more_ than willing to help you reconcile with your last Raptor."

"I sense a hint of sarcasm…" he deadpanned, but she wasn't done yet.

"We _just_ got the new machines, Owen, and we're a full _year_ behind! We already have dozens of requests that'll take _time_ because the machines aren't calibrated! Oh, and not to mention that we have a priority order that I should be working on right now, only I'm _not_ because I'm wasting time here with you," she snarled, but didn't make any attempt to get moving.

"What _are_ you here for?" Owen mumbled, but was overshadowed by Sam's continued yelling.

"Oh, how about the fact that the Raptor program has been _cancelled_? So, any request that you make is just going to be cockblocked by the board!"

Owen's eyes widened, "That's a valid point, actually… so, I guess I don't have much of a choice then, do I? I've lost her." He looked down at his feet as Sam breathed heavily, calming down.

She rolled her eyes at his sudden somber attitude, but decided to keep talking. "Not exactly. You still have one option left," she sighed.

"You don't mean…"

"Yeah, I do. You're lucky, Owen. The cameras were fried the moment Saber stepped into the paddock… something about a freak EMP wave. _No one knows Blue is here, and no one is watching you_. I'd say it's a sign from God, but you know what I think about that," she explained.

"You're not actually recommending this, are you?"

"In my professional, medical opinion, you need to fuck that Raptor," Sam grinned, but paused, grin vanishing from her face. "Except you shunned her, so she may not be as willing now as she was just a few minutes ago."

Owen's eyes widened when he realized what she meant, and that she was still serious. "I really fucked up, haven't I?" he grumbled.

"Yeah, I can't help you with that. But there is something you can help me with," she said, finally getting up out of the seat and walking towards the door. "I doubt Blue will want to come anywhere near you, so let's go."

"Uh… what are we doing?"

"We are… as in I am, going to get a blood sample from the three hatchlings," she explained, opening the door to the paddock and motioning for him to follow her.

XXX

 _The first time I took a life, I felt as if I had destroyed something sacred. But as he taught me, there was no reason to believe life is actually such. After that revelation, I lost more of myself to my power. And the lives that I took were no longer etched into my subconscious for eternity. I was free._

She backed away from the blood and the corpse. Yet another body to her murderous hands. She breathed heavily as she stared at the ruin the corpse was in. The chest cavity had been caved in and blood had leaked all over the floor. And she was covered in the sticky, red substance as well.

Her eyes widened as her breathing quickened, the death surrounding her sinking in. She had killed a man. Even if the man was going to do worse to her, she had _killed_ him. She held her head in her hands as she resisted the urge to just start screaming. _What am I going to do!_ she panicked.

Nothing made any sense, how did she kill this man? She was unconscious… there was a vague memory of something leaving her mind and attaching to his body… but she couldn't tell what it was. Had she really killed this man with psychic power? She brought her knees up to her chin as she rocked back and forth, trying to figure out what to do.

Fear set in. What if someone noticed he was missing? What if the cops were called? _What if they find him?_ That fear led to panic when she realized she had no way to explain this, no alibi, and nowhere to run. She was doomed.

She continued rocking back and forth, tears welling up in her eyes as she thought of all the different possibilities. The cops breaking in the door, seeing her on the floor crying, the dead body barely a foot from her, they would have to assume she had something to do with the murder. She would go to jail… she just woke up!

She was so concentrated on her future that she didn't notice the loud creaking sounds as the house was shifted on its foundations. Her eyes widened as she was broken out of her panic when the table next to her exploded from the force of her power. She rolled away from the wooden shrapnel that came from the explosion.

Her breathing slowed as she stopped hyperventilating, calming herself. She was safe, that was all that mattered. _They seem to respond to my distress,_ she noted. If her power only reacted when she was in trouble, then all she had to do was stay calm. And nothing would go wrong.

As she got her breathing under control, she began to think rationally once again. Even if someone noticed he was missing and called the cops, they were unlikely to search here. If the man was what she thought he was… then this cabin was likely not registered under his name, if registered at all. There was a good chance no one knew about this place.

She glared at the body, deciding that the first step would be to get rid of him. Before the cabin smelled of death and decay. She grabbed ahold of the corpse and began to drag it outside, pausing to throw up when the two halves separated.

Now with an empty stomach, she pulled what was left of the torso outside and then his legs, bits of his spinal column poking out from where the two pieces separated. She licked her lips slowly, gagging when she tasted his blood, and pondered what she should do.

Deciding against dirtying herself further by digging a grave, she grabbed ahold of his torso and launched it as far as she could into the woods. Her eyes widened when the upper half of the man's body went flying far into the forest. She looked at her hands, _how did I get so strong?_ she wondered briefly, feeling the panic rise in her again.

But she beat it down before her powers went haywire once more. She grabbed ahold of his legs, but paused before launching them into the forest. She saw his car out of the corner of her eye and decided to rifle through his pockets first. She dug out a set of keys, containing his car keys, house keys, and the key to the cabin, and a wallet.

She threw the pair of legs as far as she could into the forest before going through his wallet. To her surprise, he had quite a bit of cash on hand. Likely to eliminate a digital thumbprint, as she saw no credit cards of any kind. Shrugging to herself, she pulled out all the cash, but paused before dropping the wallet. _His name really was Mike,_ she sighed, but dropped the wallet nonetheless.

She made her way back into the cabin carrying the set of keys and the wad of cash, likely a couple thousand dollars, at least. She halted in her step when she saw the huge pile of blood on the wooden floors. Groaning to herself, she searched for a rag of some sort so she could start cleaning. She figured she would stay in the cabin for at least a few days before moving on. There was food and shelter here, and she was exhausted.

The sound of the fire crackling and crickets chirping echoed throughout the small cabin as she cleaned the floor. She scrubbed, pausing every few moments to add more cleaning solution. There were tons of the stuff underneath the sink… she didn't want to know why. As she scrubbed on her knees, she growled to herself, _"I'm taking a shower after this."_

 _It was not long after my encounter with him that I felt the fire deep within me. I had been afraid at first when the blaze burst from my fingertips… but I soon learned to control it. And I knew, at that moment, I had become stronger than any foe before me. I was a true God now, the Goddess of fire._

Her eyes snapped open. A week had passed and she was still at the cabin. But that would have to change today… she had run out of food. She groaned as she practically fell out of the bed. The headaches had all but stopped, only happening rarely, but the visions and voices still haunted her dreams.

As the week passed, she realized that she had gotten very lucky. Mike, though perhaps not the most savory of characters, had given her a place to stay and plenty of clothes to wear. He had a closet full of dresses and other clothes her size. So, at the very least, something good had come out of this experience. She had long since gotten over killing him. He deserved to die.

But she was running low on rations. He was at least serious when he said he didn't have much to eat. She had managed to last a week before there was nothing in the kitchen. She had no choice, she had to leave the cabin and head into the city.

There was only one problem. She didn't quite remember which direction town was in. Nor was she sure if she remembered how to drive a car. Thankfully, although there was no TV in the small cabin, there was a laptop that she could use. And she found a map of her general location with directions to the nearest city.

She took another shower, something that she had started to do several times a day to wash the blood away, and changed into something with pockets. A simple black T-shirt and a pair of jeans. She grabbed the car keys and the wad of cash on her way out the door, not bothering to lock the place up while she was gone.

To her surprise, she did indeed remember how to drive a car, though it felt a bit jumpy. She managed to make it all the way to the city and into the nearest superstore parking lot. She parked near the back, she wasn't quite confident in her ability to park around other vehicles and she wanted to remain as inconspicuous as possible.

She walked into the store, not stopping to stare at the inside of the monstrous building. She followed the signs until she found the produce section and began to fill a cart that she had grabbed at the entrance with food. She made quick work of filling the cart to the brim, grabbing anything she thought she wanted. She only bought food, however.

The checkout lines were crowded, just like she remembered they always had been. Five years had not made much of a difference, it would seem. She paid in cash, the cashier gave her a strange look, but she ignored it, and made her way back to the car. No one paid her any attention, no one even glanced her way, everything was going well.

Until a billboard drew her attention right before she made it out of the store. A billboard she had not noticed on her way in. It was a missing persons billboard, and on that board, was… Mike. Picture and everything. She clenched her jaw tightly when she saw the photo of the man. Both hatred and panic welled up inside her, was she angry or afraid?

If they had a missing person photo of him, they must be searching for him. The police must already be involved! And yet, she knew they would never find him. If they were going to find him, they would've found the cabin already. She let out a deep breath and bared her teeth, now just angry.

She touched her fingers to his picture, remembering what his face had looked like after she had come to and found him eviscerated on the floor. His eyeballs had popped out of his skull and he had bled out of his mouth and ears profusely. She almost didn't recognize the photo of the man, as her last experiences with him had been of his deformed skull.

She snorted, _that monster is where he belongs… rotting in the woods._ It was at that moment something strange happened. The smell of smoke touched her nostrils, causing her eyebrow to arch in confusion, before the piece of paper burst into flames. She backed away from the billboard, her eyes wide.

She looked at her fingers to see the tips flickering with red flame. Hurriedly, she swatted the flames out, not bothering to question how she had set the paper on fire or why the fire wasn't hurting her, and she ran out of the store, pushing the cart in front of her. _This is all too strange!_ she screamed internally.

The billboard burned to ash, but the fire did not touch a single brick of the building. Many people tried to figure out what had happened, but all they saw was a strange girl with her back turned on the cameras. And her flinching away when the fire started. They were unable to ID her, or track her. So, they forgot about it… the billboard wasn't worth that much anyways, and the fire didn't damage any part of the store.

 _I grew to love my work. I grew used to my powers. I grew comfortable with my situation. I was no longer the same girl that had attended_ _ **static**_ _University, that had wanted to get a degree in_ _ **static**_ _, that had just wanted a life with_ _ **static.**_ _I had changed… and now I'm dangerous. And I love it._

The weeks turned to months and those months turned into a year. A whole year she had stayed in that cabin, unsure of where to go and what to do. No one had found her, no one had found Mike, and no one had bothered to care. It shouldn't have surprised her like it did, but she was still shocked that there had yet to even be a search party.

She… wasn't sure what she was supposed to do, which was why she never bothered to do anything. She remembered the General saying that her sister had been lost over the pacific, at a place called Jurassic World, but she had done some research. She knew what Jurassic World was, an island full of dinosaurs. She didn't want to go anywhere near that place, no matter how safe they website made it seem.

And yet no one ever found her sister. Or the King person she had been traveling with. If Marie really did have psychic powers, then surely _someone_ should've noticed by now. She didn't want to think that her sister was dead, but she knew there was only one way to find out. She would have to follow her sister's trail… and that meant heading out to Jurassic World.

However, she had run into some… complications, even if she _did_ want to go to Jurassic World. For one thing, the wad of cash that she had taken was becoming increasingly thin. She no longer had enough to afford a ticket to Jurassic World, as the price had suddenly skyrocketed a few weeks ago… for no discernable reason. At least the website wasn't helpful.

There was another problem, her power. At least, she thought it was hers. The way it behaved left that question up in the air. Whenever she became stressed or panicked, they would kick in and destroy the nearest object or being, whether she willed it or not. Telekinesis, pyrokinesis, telepathy, she had no idea what would kill the nearest thing next to her.

She had learned quickly that the only way to contain her power was to keep her emotions steady. So, she had attempted meditating. However, meditation incited the visions and the headaches, making her explosions more frequent. She had learned to just deal with the possibility of her exploding at random.

It made her fear for her own safety, and the safety of others, whenever she went out to buy more food and other essentials. There hadn't been an incident in quite a few months, but there was always that voice in the back of her head that whispered _it could happen at any time, anywhere._ She had no control.

She sighed to herself as she pulled up to the cabin. She had just gone shopping once again, and it still took every ounce of her self-control not to tremble in fear around other people, lest she accidently loose her powers. And they always gave her strange looks whenever she passed them by as she nervously glanced back and forth between the people around her.

She let out a deep breath, _it was over._ She had enough supplies to last her another few weeks before she had to go back. She grabbed the groceries out of the back and headed towards the cabin, but she halted, nearly dropping the sacks, before she even reached the wooden steps to the porch.

There were two other cars pulled up to the cabin. Her eyes widened as she felt the icy grip of fear on her heart and adrenaline shoot through her system. The cars weren't police, so it was unlikely that they were investigating, but that fact didn't calm her down much. _What if whoever's here is looking for him? What if they found what's left of him?_ the thoughts ran rampant in her mind, and it wasn't long before one of the bags caught fire against her will.

She immediately dropped the flaming bag, not wanting the rest of her groceries to become damaged, and stomped the fire out. She ground her teeth together, there was forty-eight dollars' worth of food in that bag. Gone. But there were more pressing problems at hand. Namely the possibility of her going to prison. _Calm down, you don't know anything yet,_ she repeated mentally like a mantra.

She walked up to the cabin door, which was wide open, still carrying the groceries. She swallowed slowly as she counted the people just standing around the cabin, they hadn't noticed her yet. _What should I say?_ she wondered as she observed the trespassers.

There were two women and three men, that she could see, plus a dog. The dog noticed her almost immediately, but didn't raise any alarm. She figured the dog could smell her all over the cabin, so it wasn't the dog thought she didn't belong here. A forth guy walked out of her room carrying a flashlight, although it was two in the afternoon.

He halted and almost dropped the flashlight when he spotted her just standing at the entrance. "Uh… yeah, someone lives here, you guys," he said, pointing in her direction. The others turned to her and quite a few gasped.

Mary dropped her groceries on the floor and crossed her arms. _Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic,_ she repeated to herself. "W-w-what do you… want?" she stuttered out, glancing at the dog who was suddenly interested in a particular spot on the floor.

One of the women spoke up, "Oh, I'm sorry, we didn't know this place was inhabited." She brushed her blonde hair behind her ear as she rubbed the back of her neck.

"H-how… did y-you f-f-find this p-place?" Mary asked, still unable to control her stutter. But she hadn't exploded yet, she was still in control. The dog had stopped sniffing at the floor and began to approach her, an odd look in its eyes.

"We were hiking and camping in this place a few days ago…" the blonde trailed off, forcing the darker-skinned man next to her to pick up where she left off.

"We found a dead body in the woods while we were out," he admitted bluntly, crossing his arms.

Mary swallowed slowly as the dog started to sniff at her legs, fear now creeping up her spine. "R-r-really?" she asked slowly, resisting the urge to run. Running made her look guilty. "I… live alone in this c-c-cabin… alone… I o-only go to the c-c-city to buy… s-s-stuff."

The dark-skinned man raised an eyebrow but said, "We found his body bisected and in two different places, only a couple hundred meters from this place. We came back here today to see if we could find anything else. Maybe a dangerous animal or a criminal of some sort… we only found this cabin, which is apparently inhabited."

The dog looked up at her, drawing her attention downwards. _"I can smell him on you,"_ her eyes widened when she heard a voice that seemed to come from the dog.

"What?" she asked aloud, causing the others to give her confused looks.

 _"_ _I can smell him on you. His blood… is laid in deep within your skin,"_ the dog growled at her, further convincing her that she was hearing his voice. She backed away from him, mumbling something the others couldn't understand.

"Ma'am? Are you the only one out here?" the blonde asked.

Mary only started to hyperventilate, continuing to mutter nonsense to herself. _"You killed him, didn't you?"_ she heard the dog's voice once again. The animal seemed to be glaring at her as he accused her of murder.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no," she shook her head rapidly as she nearly tripped while backing away further from the dog, and the truth. This was what she was afraid of; her fears had been realized. Someone knew of her crime.

"Ma'am?" the blonde repeated, completely bewildered by her reaction to the dog. Mary only kept shaking her head and repeating 'no' over and over again. The blonde looked over at her companions, who only shrugged their shoulders in response. Of course, a woman living alone in a cabin in the woods would be a bit crazy.

 _"_ _I'm going to tell them,"_ the dog growled at her. Her eyes widened as her hands curled into fists. She couldn't allow that. If the dog told them what she had done… she would go to jail. Or worse.

" _No!_ " she hissed loudly as the dog began barking loudly. It lowered itself slightly, pointing himself at her, trying to alert its humans that she was dangerous. She had to do something.

The humans looked completely confused, but the dark-skinned man took the hint. "It seems our dog doesn't like you much, does he?" his eyes narrowed at Mary, and that's when it happened.

She froze for a fraction of a second, becoming completely unresponsive to the world around her. She stopped breathing, her heart stopped beating, and her brain stopped functioning. Her fear vanished, her panic vanished, her vision vanished. For that singular second, she was lost to the universe.

 _But only for that moment._

Sense, feeling, and vision came raging back into her as she freed herself from her temporary mental prison. Her eyes practically glowed violet as the blonde whispered, "Ma'am?" once again, while the dog never once stopped barking. _I must do something,_ was her only thought.

She reached out with her arm towards the dog, silencing him immediately, while the humans watched with befuddled looks. She clenched her hand into a claw formation, eliciting a whimper from the mammal… then she twisted her arm, dragging the dog's neck with her. A loud crack echoed through the small cabin as the dog's neck was shattered and his head turned completely upside down, not even a whine rising from the now dead animal.

The humans were understandably frightened by the monster that now stood before them. Tears of blood dripped from her violet eyes, but she did not hesitate raising her hand towards the dark-skinned male, lifting him off the floor, and levitating him above his friends. That hand curled into a fist, crushing the male's chest like she had done Mike's, splattering his friends with his blood.

They screamed, oh how they screamed. But they weren't able to do anything. One of the other males drew a gun from his pocket and unloaded at Mary, but she halted the bullets in midair, just as she had seen her sister do. She sent the shells back towards its host, piercing his body with his own weapon.

The blonde screamed and tried to run past Mary, but something pressed down on her back, forcing the blonde to the ground before she made it a foot passed Mary. She yelled and cried, tears streaming down her face, as Mary, not even looking at her, coldly pulled her spinal cord from her body. The length of bone was disconnected from the blonde's skull, instantly killing her, and pulled out of her lower back, blood leaking onto the floor.

Mary turned towards the others, who were cowering in a corner as far away from Mary as they could possibly be, and walked towards them slowly. She stepped carefully and deliberately through puddles of blood, staining her heels red. She halted only a few feet in front of them, looming over their pleading forms. But she ignored their begging, grabbing them by the necks and lifting them into the air with her power.

She, without hesitating, crushed their skulls with her strength, spraying blood and pieces of their skulls across the walls and splattering over her. She stared at the corpses for a few moments before she felt herself fall back into her own mind. It sent her to the floor onto her knees.

It was one of the strangest sensations she had ever experienced. It had felt like she was watching _herself_ kill those people from another's perspective, as if her body was being possessed. But she did not try and stop herself from murdering those people, somehow it felt right. She looked at her blood-soaked hands, but could not feel a drop of pity for those she killed. In fact, she couldn't feel anything. Not fear, sorrow, or even elation.

 _All she felt was "void."_

She slowly began to realize that she was no longer able to stay in this cabin, she had to go somewhere else. _It is a good thing I had prepared for this eventuality,_ she sighed to herself. She made her way over to her groceries, which the blonde had died near, and noticed the bags had been splattered with the blonde's entrails.

She grimaced at the sight, but kept moving. She pulled a packet of hair dye out of one of the bags and headed towards the bathroom. She looked herself over in the mirror, sighing to herself when she saw her now vivid violet eyes. They were once a bright blue, but those days were long gone.

She ran her hands through her long, blonde hair. She and her sister always liked to keep their hair at shoulder-length, but Mary always preferred dying it black. She did notice, however, two blue streaks through her hair that connected in a 'V.' She didn't remember seeing those before, but she figured they would be invisible once she dyed her hair. But first…

She grabbed a pair of scissors she kept nearby, always hesitant to do it herself. Carefully, she placed the blades against her hair at the desired length, hesitating before doing it. She took a deep breath, reassuring herself that this was for the best. For the past year, she had been a blonde, if anyone _had_ spotted her, this would help her blend in again. With that, she sheared through her hair, cleaving it so it ended just above her shoulders, that blue 'V' still present.

She then went to work dying her hair. She waited the appropriate amount of time before stripping her bloody clothes from her body and stepping into the shower to clean herself. She had set her bloody heels near the door, as she would need them to traverse the stained cabin, but she did not plan on keeping them.

She stepped out of the shower and toweled herself off half-heartedly. She checked herself over in the foggy mirror, rubbing it first to clear it, to see that her hair had turned a dark black color. However, that blue 'V' was still present in her hair. She stared at the mark in confusion, but decided she didn't have time to worry about it. She needed to leave.

She slipped on the bloody heels and made her way through the bedroom, careful not to splash the crimson liquid on her legs. She quickly dressed herself in a black skirt and gray shirt, and pulled out a suitcase that she had the foresight to purchase and stuffed it full of clothes. Most of the clothes were dirty, as she never did laundry… she just bought new clothes when the time came.

She grabbed an extra pair of sneakers on her way out, knowing that she'd want to switch the bloody heels for the sneakers after she made it out of the cabin. She stepped carefully around the corpses and made her way onto the porch where she switched her shoes, and tossed the heels back into the cabin.

She paused before she walked away. Light was glinting off something in the dead blonde's hands that got her attention. She bent down and pulled a set of car keys from her still warm grasp. _Perfect,_ she thought to herself, hitting the unlock button.

One of the two other cars flashed, signaling which one the keys belonged to. She placed her stuff in the jeep before turning back to the cabin with a sigh. She couldn't just leave the cabin standing. With a groan, she walked towards the cabin slowly, stretching out her hand, praying that it would work.

She shut her eyes tightly and concentrated on the cabin, _willing_ it to catch fire. To her surprise, she heard a _whoosh_ of flames, causing her to snap her eyes open to see a jet of fire spring from her fingertips and latch onto the cabin. She watched, the slightest smile on her face as the fire engulfed the building quickly.

She turned to the two spare cars, and _willed_ them to catch fire as well. Astonishingly, it worked again. She narrowed her eyes at the burning cars, wondering if she had finally managed to gain control over her power… but she didn't want to stick around to test it. She needed to leave as quickly as possible. The fire would soon be visible to the nearby city, and they would panic thinking it was a forest fire. She didn't need them investigating until she was long gone.

She hopped into the car and took off, not bothering to look back. Without a place to stay, she would have to keep moving from place to place until the General eventually found her. She had discovered that her fire would only burn what she told it to burn. After it consumed the cabin and the cars, it would put itself out. And everyone would think it would be strange, and it would get the army's attention… she couldn't allow that either.

So, she had to go somewhere. And she knew just where. Back to Cal-tech. Back to the site of the accident. Back to where she ceased to be _just_ Mary. She was something more now, or maybe something less. She would start her search for her sister there. Maybe once she managed to find Marie, she would find Dr. Freeman too. Whatever was wrong with her… she had a feeling _he_ might be able to fix it.

XXX

 **Right… so I wanted to add a part where Sam and Owen go into the paddock to draw blood from the three hatchlings… but I don't think I'm going to show it. I can't get it to flow properly… that's why this short chapter took so long. I was trying to fit in a third piece that just wasn't working. So, I took it out. Basically, next chapter, Sam and Owen are already going to have drawn the blood from the three hatchlings. Anyways… we caught up in Mary's timeline. She's now only a few days away the events of Sanguine! Which means we won't be having any more scenes in the past… probably. And we get to see a bit of Sam and Owen talk about his fuck up. We'll be seeing a bit more of the dynamic between Owen and Blue in the future, trust me… so please, stay tuned for more!**


	6. Chapter 6

Sanguine Christmas Special!

Author's Note:

 **Yeah… I just couldn't resist. As some of you know… this is actually my first Christmas on fanfiction, a milestone that passed by faster than I expected. Wow… 400,000 words archived already? Huh, time really does fly. In any case, I don't really celebrate Christmas, so I guess this is more of a holiday special, despite it coming out on Christmas. A few of you knew that I was tossing this idea around (I wanted to see if anyone would talk me out of it… no one did), but then I thought of a way to connect this to our main story here. I… won't say any more on the matter. I will say that… yeah, we start in the past.**

 **But how far in the past? Let's see… Tedium takes place 3 years after the Indominus incident, which is in 2015… so this is Christmas 2017! Also known as Saber's first real Christmas (and Dr. Freeman is alive… yay)! So please, happy holidays and enjoy this special chapter of Sanguine!**

XXX

Claire let out a loud sigh as she leaned against the wall of the break room. She hated having to do this, but Masrani had forced her hand, just as he did every year. She _didn't even_ celebrate the holiday, but she was still roped into the tradition each time. It was Christmas time once again, and Masrani had arranged the Jurassic World _Secret Santa_ event just as he always did.

If there was any excuse to celebrate this time of year it would be the rise in attendance at the park. Jurassic World was warm year-round, of course people would want to leave the cold behind for warmer climates. There was also the fact the tickets were on discount for the entire month of December, which also helped attendance spike.

She tuned Masrani's speech out as she observed the others around her. It was the same speech he gave every year. _"This is the season of giving, we should all participate!"_ She shook her head, she knew why he loved this season so much. If there was one thing Masrani was, it was generous. That's why there was no spending cap on the gifts, you could spend however much you wanted on your Secret Santa, and Masrani always gave lavish gifts.

They were given a week to buy their gifts. And everyone was forced to participate. Masrani began to pass around a hat full of slips of paper with each employees' name written on it. Including Masrani's name. She had a feeling he secretly enjoyed watching people panic when trying to shop for him… the man had everything, he was nearly impossible to buy for. And it wasn't like you could just give him cash either, he had billons in excess.

 _I wish I could go home,_ she grumbled to herself. But she couldn't go home, no employee could go home. Jurassic World ran year-round, so the employees needed to be here all the time. However, Masrani allowed them to fly their families out once a year at any time, his expense. It was a good deal, as it allowed employees to visit with their loved ones, who could receive the full Jurassic World experience for practically nothing, while still working.

 _If only myself and my family were more available,_ she sighed. She knew that even if she had the option to fly her sister and her family out, she would never have time to visit with them. Her job was just too demanding. Though her sister's job was equally demanding, so it wasn't like _she_ would have time to fly out either.

"Claire?" Masrani's voice brought her out of her thoughts. She glanced over at him to see him offering her the hat. She had completely spaced out. He gave her a concerned look as she took the hat from him and pulled out the remaining slip of paper. She was the last person to get the hat.

Masrani smiled at her and took the hat back, placing it on his head as he did. "Have fun shopping, and remember, no spending limit! Go wild!" he smiled, bowing as he did. The employees had mixed reactions. Some grumbled from the name they had chosen, others cheered because they had gotten lucky.

She glanced at her slip of paper, praying that it wasn't Owen… like it was last year. That man was nearly as bad as Masrani, and it didn't help she hated him. She looked at the name and raised her eyebrow in confusion. She didn't recognize this name.

She spotted Masrani talking to Wu out of the corner of her eye, and she decided to ask who this person was. She walked over to Masrani and waited patiently for him to finish his conversation with Dr. Wu. She noticed that there was someone else waiting on Masrani and Wu, another woman, an extremely tall woman, who waited silently next to Wu. _That must be his new assistant,_ Claire noted as the woman walked away with Wu, not saying a word.

"Uh, Mr. Masrani?" Claire asked, drawing the man's attention towards her. He gave her a friendly smile, prompting her to proceed. "Who is this?" she handed the slip of paper to him. His eyes widened as he read the name and he glanced around the room, trying to point out the person in question.

His eyebrows drew together when he didn't see him. "He seems to have left. Don't you remember him? I picked him up in Germany only a few weeks ago," he said, handing the slip of paper back to her.

"I still have no clue who you're talking about," Claire sighed, taking the slip of paper back.

Masrani only grinned, "Well you have a week to find out as much about him as possible so you can buy him a gift! He's the Indominus trainer, to give you a place to start." The man tipped his hat and walked away, leaving Claire alone with only a slip of paper and a place to start. She let out another sigh, why were things always so difficult?

 _Dr. Gordon Freeman._

The next week was one of the most interestingly frustrating weeks she had ever experienced. She had done her best to research Dr. Freeman… but the man was a ghost. His file only had a few basic things in it, a picture, what country he was from, when he was born, how tall he was, and where he had gotten his doctorates. She would admit that Harvard was impressive, but it didn't tell her anything about the man.

She did find where he was staying on the island and tried to visit his home… or break into it. But it didn't matter, the door was unlocked and the rooms were practically empty. There was only a few pillows and blankets that weren't standard for the type of home he lived in. It told her nothing about the man.

She even tried staking out his home, only for him to never show up. She tried several other places, such as Jurassic World's most popular restaurant, the coffee shop, and the break room, only to _never_ see him even once. It was the very last day when she realized that he almost never left the Indominus paddock.

He slept there, he spent his time there, and he clearly had food there too. She shook her head to herself when she realized that there was no way for her to find anything out about him without practically announcing that she was his Secret Santa. And Masrani would not be happy about that. She was never sure how he found out… but he always did.

With a sigh and only hours before Christmas, she went with the cop out gift. A bottle of scotch at the liquor store. It wasn't cheap, so at least it didn't feel like as much of a cop out as it could have been. She managed to find time to wrap it at least.

"Claire! Claire!" she heard a voice she recognized call out as someone pounded on her office door. She rolled her eyes when she recognized the voice. It was Lowery.

"It's open, Lowery!" she called out.

The door opened and the tech geek slipped into her office, shutting the door behind him. "Hey…" he said, trailing off.

"What do you want, Lowery?" she sighed. Lowery always waited until the last minute to purchase a gift, as he had picked her last year and ended up wrapping one of his own plastic dinosaurs to give to her. She promptly gave it back. He was a notoriously bad gift-giver, and she had no doubts about what he wanted to ask.

"Uh… I need a bit of help picking out a gift for my Secret Santa," he said breathlessly. He was sweating profusely and panting heavily, as if he had just run a marathon.

"It's almost midnight, Lowery, you know that the stores close soon," Claire reprimanded him with a smirk on her face. It served him right after the shitty gift she had received last year.

" _They are closed,_ " he hissed, still out of breath. "Why do you think… I'm so sweaty? I had just run all around Jurassic World, looking for an open place. Nothing! I need help, please?"

She sighed loudly and said, "Alright fine, who are you shopping for?"

"Dr. Wu."

She chuckled, "Are you kidding? Wu is the easiest person on the island to shop for! Besides yourself."

Lowery shrugged, "You know I'm bad at this. And Wu is the only person on the island not to hate me because I suck at gift-giving… I'd like to actually do something decent this year." Claire gave him a strange look before bursting out laughing. He glared at her and growled, "I'm serious…"

"I know you are," Claire cut her laughter short by taking a deep breath, calming herself. "Just give him a vial of your blood."

"What? Why?" Lowery gave her an odd look.

"It's really your last option. Have you heard the rumor that he put human DNA in the Indominus? If he's experimenting with human DNA, maybe he could use a vial of yours," she suggested. It would be a joke gift, at best, but it would be free. And at least not as insulting as a plastic dinosaur… although it would be weird.

Lowery ground his teeth together, but let out a sigh, "Fine… I guess I don't have much choice. Do you think Dr. Gerry will see me at this hour?" She could only shrug, forcing him to walk away, grumbling as he did that she was no help.

She only rolled her eyes and stretched. The clock struck midnight, and she decided that she should at least try and get some sleep. The Christmas party wasn't until eight o'clock at night, where they would give out their gifts, so she would still have a long day ahead of her.

XXX

Claire let out a loud yawn as she leaned against the wall of the break room once again, waiting for Masrani showed up. He always handed out the first gift, just as he always drew the first name. The moment he arrived, the chatter in the room quieted as he made his way to the front of the room, huge smile on his face.

She tuned him out once again, concentrating on looking for Dr. Freeman. The sooner she gave him his gift, the sooner she could leave. She still had work to do. But, to her dismay, she couldn't find him. She watched Masrani give his gift to Owen, an extremely expensive hammock that would replace his old, ratty one.

She smirked at the excited expression on Owen's face, she doubted he could even comprehend how much that hammock must've costed. Not that it would make any difference to Masrani. After Owen received his gift, the festivities started. Refreshments were served, varying degrees of alcohols, ranging from benign punch to hard vodka, as well as cake and pie. But she only wanted to get her gift over with. She clutched the bottle of scotch tightly in her hands, but she still didn't see the good doctor.

She watched Wu give Masrani something, she couldn't tell what. _So, Wu drew Masrani,_ she thought to herself as she watched Lowery approach Wu cautiously, holding a vial of his blood behind his back. _He actually did it…_ she chuckled to herself. But, to her surprise, Wu was walking towards her.

"Good evening, Miss Dearing," he greeted. She noticed Lowery stop walking towards Wu and headed over to the refreshment table instead. He would wait his turn, it would seem.

"Dr. Wu," she returned the greeting.

He noticed the gift still in her hands. "Haven't given your gift yet? You're usually the first one after Masrani, then you're gone," he noted.

"It doesn't look like he actually showed up," Claire growled.

His eyes widened when he realized who she had drawn. "I see. So, you're the one who drew the mysterious Dr. Freeman," he said. She raised an eyebrow, silently asking for an explanation. She hadn't bothered to ask others if they knew much about Dr. Freeman, most didn't even know the Indominus had gotten another trainer… they came and went so frequently, no one kept track.

"As it turns out, my assistant received a message earlier today from Dr. Freeman, asking her to come down to the Indominus paddock so she could get her gift. He said he wasn't coming to the party," Wu explained.

Claire ground her teeth together, "Well he forgot that he was receiving a gift as well… so I'm going to have to go to the Indominus paddock, aren't I?"

Wu nodded, "And you know what Masrani will say if you don't." She rolled her eyes, she knew exactly what he would say, _Why didn't you go the extra mile? You only bought him a bottle of scotch, the least you could do for him would be to give it to him while he was too busy to attend._

And she knew exactly what she would say in return, _It's not_ _just_ _a bottle of scotch, and he's not the only one who's fucking busy. Why does_ _he_ _get to skip?_ But it wouldn't have mattered, she would have ended up surrendering to Masrani anyways. "In any case, I wish you luck with that. I have a lab calling to me," Wu said, excusing himself and leaving the break room.

She watched him go with an envious glance. They were all busy, and yet here they were pandering to their boss. At least they got something out of it. She watched Lowery curse and run after Wu. She was almost disappointed not to witness that conversation. Almost.

She sighed and made to leave as well, but she was halted by someone in ACU gear. It was Hamada. "Commander?" she asked, wondering why he had stepped in her path. He only nodded curtly at her, and handed her a wrapped gift. He nodded again, and walked away. _Oh, so that's who had my name,_ she sighed to herself. Well hopefully it was better than Lowery's.

She tore the wrapping paper off the gift as she made her way out, dropping the paper in a nearby trashcan. It was a box… with the word _Magnum_ on it. _He didn't…_ she trailed off. He opened the box to see a large, silver revolver. She pulled the revolver out of the box and noticed six bullets in the box, just waiting to be loaded into the gun. _How did he know I knew how to use a gun?_ she wondered.

She took a deep breath, put the gun back into the box, and closed the lid. She would deal with it later. She needed to get to the Indominus paddock before the night was through. She tossed the box onto the passenger's seat of her Mercedes and took off towards the Indominus paddock.

As she pulled up to the paddock, a wave of nostalgia passed over her. She remembered doing this during the Indominus incident… granted, Owen wasn't by her side at the moment. _Good riddance,_ she thought to herself as she stepped out of her car and made her way to the stairs to the viewing room.

To her surprise, there was someone descending the steps. _That must be Wu's assistant,_ she realized as the frighteningly tall woman halted at the bottom of the stairs. Both women stared at each other, trying to come up with the other's name.

"Miss Dearing."

"Samantha."

They arrived at the answer at the exact same time. The tall woman smiled, though it looked forced, "Just Sam, please." Claire nodded, not really caring. Sam was only an assistant. Dr. Wu's assistant, but still just an assistant.

"Very well then… could you please step aside? I need to have a word with Dr. Freeman," Claire said as kindly as she could.

"I wouldn't, if I were you, he's very busy," Sam spat, frown clear on her face. Claire raised an eyebrow. _Is he that bad?_ she thought to herself. But she didn't have time to ask as Sam walked away.

Shrugging, she made the climb into the viewing room and opened the heavy door. She shut the door behind her and halted when she saw Dr. Freeman. The young man sat at a desk against the wall on the far side of the room, the huge window showing the paddock a mere meter to his left.

He was typing furiously, a pace she could only dream to set. She could hear him hit the keys with force, a deeper sound produced whenever he hit the space key or the enter key. The typing only slowed as he picked up a pencil in his left hand and wrote a few things down on a sheet of paper, before devoting that hand to typing again.

She cleared her throat, but he only held a finger up in the air. She raised an eyebrow as he pushed a piece forward on a nearby chessboard. She rolled her eyes… he was playing chess while he was working. _Against who?_ she couldn't help but ask herself. "Yes?" he asked, going back to typing.

"I, uh, brought you a gift," she said lamely. She wasn't sure what else to say. He seemed legitimately busier than she would be at the moment, so she figured getting angry at him for skipping out on the part was no longer justified.

He paused in his typing and looked up at her, revealing striking violet eyes behind thick-rimmed glasses. "Ah, yes, I knew I forgot about something. So, you drew me, huh?" he said smoothly.

"Yeah, I, uh, wasn't sure what to get you. I didn't even know who you were at first!" she admitted. She had to resist slapping her hand over her mouth. She hadn't meant to say that. She was a bit jittery, those eyes seemed to pierce her soul.

"I am the Indominus' psychologist," he said.

"Psychologist? Masrani said that you were her trainer."

Gordon let out a sigh as he leaned back in his chair. She noticed that he was wearing a lab coat, just like Dr. Wu. However, Freeman's coat seemed to have gone through more wear and tear. The fringes had been singed from fire and there were scratches and holes riddled throughout the coat. "That's the simplified version, yes. But my specific title is psychologist, not trainer," he explained.

"Oh," was her simple response. "Uh, here's your gift," she said, placing the bottle of scotch on the desk. Dr. Freeman raised an eyebrow, and she could see him hesitate in reaching for the gift.

"I don't drink," he sighed.

Her eyes widened, that wasn't good. "Oh, sorry about that. It's just that you don't leave your paddock, there isn't any information on you, no one seems to know who you are… I just… didn't know," she explained hurriedly, rambling slightly.

He only gave her a dull look, "It's quite all right. I don't celebrate this holiday anyways, I can just give this away next year, I suppose."

"It's rather expensive… are you sure you don't even want to try it? You never know… maybe now's the time to start drinking. I mean, you are dealing with the Indominus," she noted. She felt like an idiot saying it like that, but she had never met anyone who didn't partake at least once in a while.

"I am having no problems with the Indominus, I have already made a connection with her, and we're already working on her recovery. I don't drink because I don't like not being in control of my actions. And I don't leave my paddock because _she_ wouldn't like it if I did," he answered carefully, jerking his thumb towards the window.

A loud roar echoed across Jurassic World as she whipped her head around, expecting to see the Indominus standing at the window, glaring at her. But there was nothing there. She turned back to see the slightest smirk on the good doctor's face. _He was toying with her._

"You've already made progress?" she asked, impressed, though the fact that he was clearly messing with her caused a twinge of anger to rise in her heart.

Dr. Freeman nodded slowly, "Do you know how she feels right now?" Claire shook her head a resounding no. "Did you know that she can hear your festivities? Did you know that she can feel the happiness in the air? It depresses her, Miss Dearing, and I'm trying to rectify that. And I would be making more progress if you weren't wasting my time. I thank you for your gift, and I assure you that I will make use of it somehow, even if I, myself, don't consume it."

Her eyes widened as he brushed her off like some sort of pest. Suddenly, everything was put into perspective for her. To him, his work was more important than anything else, and she was wasting his time. Just as she thought about her own work. She felt another twinge in her heart, but not anger. In fact… she couldn't tell what it was that she felt. It was something brand new to her.

She nodded slowly and backed out of the viewing room like a kicked puppy. She wouldn't be bothering him anymore. He leaned forward again, placing his hands on the desk, and let out a long sigh. "Why did you hide from her?" he asked, to seemingly no one.

Just outside of the paddock, a dark, dark green faded from her now pure white scales as the Indominus dropped her camo. _"I felt like messing with her,"_ the beast chittered lightheartedly.

He shook his head, letting out a deep chuckle. As long as her behavior was harmless, there was no reason to reprimand her. "Still, you might've had more of an impact if you had stayed visible," he said, smirk gracing his features.

 _"_ _Maybe,"_ she admitted, but didn't bother saying anything else. It was silent as Dr. Freeman looked at his computer screen and the notes he had made on the piece of paper. She waited patiently for him to say something else, but he remained silent. _"Are we going to finish our game?"_ she eventually asked.

"It doesn't matter, it's a mate in three," he explained as he picked up his pencil and wrote something else down on the piece of paper. "You did well for your second match. Considering I taught you how to play yesterday."

She let out a low hiss, _"That's no excuse for me to lose. I demand a rematch!"_

He shook his head, "I'm afraid I must decline. Maybe tomorrow. You know that today is Christmas, right?"

Her crimson eyes narrowed dangerously. She had watched Sam and Claire enter the viewing room to either receive a gift or give one, and she hated it. She hated the very idea of gift giving. Why should anyone give something to someone else? _"I hate this season,"_ she hissed.

He let out a sigh and stood from his chair. "I know you do. Let's see if I can't rectify that, however," he gave her a comforting smile as he grabbed his laptop and unplugged it, he folded up the sheet of paper and stuffed it into his pocket, and, although he hesitated, he grabbed Claire's gift off the desk.

He made his way into the paddock, free from fear. She had already learned that she could do nothing to harm him, so it wouldn't have mattered if she tried to kill him or not, he would stop her. He made his way into the clearing before sitting down on the hard ground. She raised an eye ridge and followed suit.

Setting his laptop down on the ground and positioning it so they could both see, he pulled out the piece of paper, and set the bottle aside. "I made a list of movies that I think you should see. It'll help you get a taste of human culture, and they're wonderful movies too," he said, showing her the list of movie titles he had written down.

She eyed the list, not recognizing a single title. "Which one do you want to watch first?" Dr. Freeman asked, gesturing to his laptop to reveal dozens and dozens of windows open on the screen. He had found and downloaded each movie on the list, and planned to watch them with her.

 _"_ _Let's start at the top,"_ she suggested.

" _Star Wars_ , excellent place to start with human culture. Not exactly Christmas-y, but I think you'll enjoy it," he gave her a grin and folded the paper up again, placing it in his pocket. He clicked on the window with _Star Wars_ pulled up and hit play. "We'll start with episode four…"

She gave him a confused look and asked, _"Why?"_

He shrugged and answered, "They made the forth one first, don't ask why." As the movie started, Dr. Freeman unwrapped Claire's gift and opened the bottle. "Here, try this," he chuckled and held the bottle out for her to smell.

The Indominus flinched away from the scent, but opened her mouth to accept the liquid nonetheless. He poured the entire bottle in her mouth, causing her to gag slightly. It was a harsh taste, nothing like water at all. _"That's disgusting, how do you humans drink that shit?"_ she growled.

"I don't, clearly, it makes me lose control… and you know how _that_ would end," he sighed. The movie continued and they watched in peace, she didn't notice the thunderclouds forming ahead. But Dr. Freeman did. About half way through the movie, Freeman said, "It doesn't look too good up there, does it?" drawing her attention to the sky.

Just as she did that, the skies opened up and… snow started to fall. "Snow?" Freeman noted as the white flakes began to land around him. The weather didn't call for snow.

 _I don't remember this_

Dr. Freeman stood so that he could better observe the snow without craning his neck too much. She tried to stand with him, but found her entire body unresponsive. No matter how hard she tried to stand, her muscles wouldn't budge. It felt similar to when Dr. Freeman was holding her down, so she tried to open her mouth to ask him to let her go, but she found her voice unresponsive as well.

"This is very strange," Freeman noted as he held out his hand, catching a few of the flakes. He stood right next to her giant eye, his outstretched hand touching her, though she couldn't even feel his touch. _What's happening!_ she screamed internally, hoping Dr. Freeman would hear her. But if he did, he didn't respond.

The fringes of her vision started to fill with black and soon, the only things she could see were Dr. Freeman and the laptop. The snow continued to fall, though she did not feel its cold touch. The snow fell faster and faster until there was a thin sheet on the ground. "It shouldn't be snowing… it's still seventy degrees out," Freeman noted.

That's when she saw something in the mass of darkness. A flash of red. Two small specks appeared and seemed to hover at the same level as Freeman's head. She felt her blood run cold, though that feeling quickly disappeared along with everything but her vision, even as she realized what they were. _They were eyes._ Deep, blood-red eyes, full of more malice than even hers. And they looked hungry.

She redoubled her efforts to free herself and to call out to her companion… but she made no progress. She continued to mentally scream as the shadows parted and a figure stepped forth from the darkness. The apparition was only partially complete, as the only thing she could fully make out was its face, red eyes, and a maw full of sharp teeth stretched in a vicious grin. Even she was unnerved.

And yet, Dr. Freeman never seemed to notice it. _Can he not sense the monster?_ she wondered to herself. It seemed impossible, but was there a being that not even Dr. Freeman could compete with? "Maybe I should head to the main park to see what's going on…" Freeman trailed off, but it was too late.

Before he could even make a move, his eyes widened, and he let out a gasp as the monster drove its hand straight through his chest. Blood and bone splattered out of the exit wound, staining her scales a deep red, as the monster's hand halted right in front of her crimson eye. And she was powerless to stop the odd groan that escaped the good doctor's lips as his knees buckled under him, sending him to the ground.

She could only stare at the blood-stained hand protruding from Dr. Freeman's chest before it curled into a fist. The monster retracted its arm from Freeman's chest with a wet squelch, causing her to gag, though not even bile rose in her throat. A deep chuckle resonated throughout her mind as Dr. Freeman collapsed onto his side, the monster's arm having been the only thing keeping him upright. He was dead.

 _No, this isn't right! What's happening?_

The monster stepped over the deceased body of Gordon Freeman and bent down to stare into her eye. Laughter danced in its eyes as it opened its maw and said wickedly, _"I am coming for you."_ Then it laughed. Oh, how its laughter shook her to her very core, traumatizing her permanently. It was the laugh, not the death of her only friend, that broke her. _It was the laugh._

 _Saber!_

XXX

Her eyes snapped open and she breathed heavily. She looked around and immediately realized that it was in her nest, in the dead of night. _That was some dream,_ she sighed to herself. She recognized the second half of the dream as something that had happened to her. Her first Christmas with Dr. Freeman, a memory that she looked back on fondly. And yet, now it was a nightmare, plagued by some sort of monster.

 _I am coming for you._

A shiver passed down her spine as the monster's deep voice reverberated in her mind. And his laugh… his laugh. She took deep breaths, trying to remain calm, shutting her eyes tightly, trying to drown out the dream in the crushing void of nothing. When her eyes opened again, she saw Dr. Freeman standing over her.

She flinched away from him, causing him to raise an eyebrow. She heard a small groan, drawing her attention to her side to see two of her hatchlings asleep by her side, one had reacted when she shifted. _Wait, two?_ she noticed that one was missing. Breathing in deeply, she realized the missing hatchling was Free.

She looked back over at Dr. Freeman giving her a bored stare. Her eyes widened when she realized that it wasn't actually Dr. Freeman standing before her. She saw the ethereal glow coming from him and realized that he was just a projection. _"Why are you here?"_ she hissed, anger rising in her voice. She hadn't forgotten about her missing hatchling, but it had been _months_ since Dr. Freeman had appeared before her in this manner. She had thought he was fading from her mind, but it seemed as if he was still there within her.

He only pressed a finger to his lips and turned around. She watched him walk away, purple glow following him as he went. He beckoned for her to follow him when he realized she wasn't moving. Growling to herself, she stood carefully, making sure that her two remaining hatchlings remained asleep, and she followed the good doctor's phantom.

 _"_ _Where is Free?"_ she hissed, hoping to get an answer from him. He only shook his head and raised a finger to his lips once more. She snarled, but remained silent otherwise as he led her through her paddock. Her eyes widened when she realized where he was taking her. They were drawing closer and closer to the border of her paddock… and Rexy's.

They broke into a clearing that made a ten-meter gap from the fence to the tree line. Dr. Freeman halted and so did she when she saw the ancient Rex breathing heavily and standing close to the fence. But that wasn't the most shocking thing… she saw Free standing on her side of the paddock right up against the fence, staring up at the great Rex. The fence was electric, so neither the hatchling hybrid nor the elder Rex touched the dangerous wires.

 _What vain hope for the future_

 _When your prison is but a pigeon_

 _And your sentence is a blessing_

Dr. Freeman approached the duo, but waved at her to stay back. She watched in confusion as Freeman stepped up right next to her hatchling and bent down to place a hand on its back. He too looked up at Rexy, sorrow evident in their eyes.

 _But for your soul to be torn from its post,_

 _A curse no man should bear?_

 _No soul should be ripped from this Earth lest it wish it_

The ancient Rex let out a soft sound when she saw Dr. Freeman. The fire in her golden eyes dimmed as she saw the only other creature that had graced her just as her father did. She remembered the man in white fondly, and Dr. Freeman had been the only one to speak to her as father did.

 _And it is a true tragedy that a creature as mighty as you_

 _Die in such captivity_

Dr. Freeman gave her a soft smile when she let out a soft sigh. It was clear to both of them, it would seem. And Saber realized it at that moment as well. Dr. Freeman's words rung in her ears… the elder Rex was passing.

 _So a parting gift. from one departed soul to another_

 _The one thing we desire most_

Freeman stretched his arm out, Free copying the good doctor's movement with his nose, reaching through the gaps in the wire fence. Rexy, realizing what they wanted, lowered herself so that her nose could touch with Free's. A jolt seemed to pass through them as Dr. Freeman rested his hand on Free's head.

 _Freedom from this wretched world_

 _Freedom from this pain of living_

 _Freedom from this suffering named reality_

The old Rex sighed again, her eyes going dull. Not only had her fire gone out, but life was leaving her each second that ticked by. Freeman stood and Free pulled his head out of the gap in the wire. Their intense violet gaze never left Rexy's dull gold.

 _Let not those crimson tears stain those golden fields_

 _For what is stained cannot be retained_

Saber could feel something _twist_ in her heart. She had only known the Rex for a year, and yet the old Rex was like a mother to her. Rexy, although had no biological children, had helped immensely in raising Saber's confidence in raising her hatchlings. To see her go… brought true tears to her eyes. Though not a single salty remnant graced the ancient Rex's vision.

 _Let not those weary legs hold you up any longer_

 _For you must sleep until the end_

Rexy slowly let herself down onto the ground and onto her side. Her massive head rested such that her dull, golden eye was on level with Free and Freeman. She gasped slightly, as she struggled to take in air, though it did not look like she was in any pain whatsoever.

 _Let not those fears be held evermore_

 _For now is the dusk of an era_

Her eyes began to open more slowly as she struggled to stay awake. And it was a struggle Saber knew the ancient Rex would lose. Over forty years old seemed like something unattainable for a dinosaur. And yet Rexy had achieved it, and she had endured countless days of strife and battles, forging forever onwards. It would seem as if the only thing to truly best the ultimate natural predator was the decay of time.

 _Let not your last dream be a nightmare_

 _For when your eyes shut their last_

Free and Saber watched as Dr. Freeman reached through the wires, phasing through the electrified cables, and touched Rexy's head, just above her eye ridge. And slowly, ever so slowly, her eyes closed forever. The moment they shut, Dr. Freeman seemed to break up and shatter, as if he was just a dream, and Free seemed to come out of a trance, collapsing onto his side, fast asleep.

Saber blinked away the tears and picked up her youngest hatchling in her mouth carefully. She carried him back to her nest, knowing that he would never be able to tell her what had happened. And she thanked Dr. Freeman, as she could feel him, ever so weakly, in the back of her mind, for allowing her to see the passing of the queen of Isla Nublar. The last true tyrant king, Rexy, the Tyrannosaurus Rex was no more.

 _Know that another opens for their first._

XXX

 **I know this… isn't what a lot of you were expecting. Hopefully it's easy to follow, we get to see a real glimpse of Claire for the first time in this story. And we also get to see where she and Dr. Freeman first meet (as I imply in Tedium that they had met before) and where Claire receives the handgun she uses against the Native American man in Tedium. So, this ties up a few loose ends.**

 **A few other things are tied up here. We learn that Freeman joins Jurassic World in December of all months. The "game" shown here is their second, so Freeman teaches Saber chess fairly early on. And, although it was interrupted, this is when Saber learns about** ** _Star Wars_** **, like I mention in Tedium. And yes, the end of Saber's dream is indeed foreshadowing… I shouldn't have to point that out, but I will anyways. The "poem" that I use is my own composition, by the way. I don't want to say this… but I hope I at least got a few of you going in thinking this was going to be a happy ending. But that was my intention.**

 **A lot of you thought I wouldn't have the balls to actually do it when I mentioned Rexy was dying. I couldn't do it in Tedium, who says I could do it here? And… this isn't spite, surprisingly. If this was spite, I would've made this… well, less impactful. She would've just died in a footnote at the end of the story. No, this means something. I hope you all get what it means, but just in case, I want to say what it is. Most writers and Jurassic Park/World seem to regard Rexy as this… invincible being that cannot lose and cannot die. The only real time I've seen Rexy's mortality come up (and I haven't read every single JW fanfic, so I might be missing a few good ones, but this is without a doubt the best) is in** ** _It's Not the Raptor DNA_** **… but it just seems like a passing comment. Rexy is old… almost impossibly so. And I just wanted to express that mortality… I do want to make sure you understand what Dr. Freeman did for her, however. He "freed" her. Her last moments she believed that she was free from her paddock, roaming the island without bounds, hunting as she wished, and fighting who she wanted. A wonderful gift to such a majestic animal… and thus, the queen is dead. But we do not rejoice, for we know we are next. Enjoy your holidays… please stay tuned for the next chapter.**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 5 - Sorrow:

Author's Note:

 **Yeah, it's been awhile, I know. But I'm back and ready to go. So, last chapter had very little bearing on the plot as a whole, except for establishing that Rexy died (and that T5721 is coming for Saber). So… here we go, I guess.**

 _You're still bad at this._

 **I know… you don't make it much better though.**

 _Wow, okay, wow. All I'm saying is that I should've been there for the Special chapter._

 **You were busy, if you remember.**

 _I'm never_ _that_ _busy, my friend. All I'm saying is that people want a bit more than "here we go, I guess."_

 **Fine, do** ** _you_** **have anything to say about this chapter? You read my notes.**

 _Yeah, they're a lot of help. From what I can tell, now that Mary has caught up in time, we aren't going to be seeing anymore from the past?_

 **Uh… probably. Unless I make a split-second decision and change my mind, no more pieces that take place solely in the past…**

 _You don't sound confident at all. So, I guess I can assume that now she's caught up in time, we're going to start seeing the pieces come together? Her and T5721 arriving at Jurassic World, soon?_

 **Yeah, way to spoil it.**

 _I spoiled nothing, you've already said that they're converging on Jurassic World. I'm just reaffirming it._

 **Right… in any case, that's enough out of you for today. Let's begin, shall we? Please, enjoy!**

XXX

The drive to Cal-tech was long and arduous, but thankfully free of murder. She stopped for nothing, not food, not drink, not even sleep. The car had just enough gas to get her to the university, but no farther. Stepping out of the car was like stepping through a portal in time. It brought memories roaring back to life in her mind.

Her eyes shut as she took in a deep breath, allowing the memories to run rampant. Finally… a clear picture. She could remember moving to California, both her and her sister choosing this university, and the first time she stepped foot on campus. The entire experience was… surreal.

Her eyes popped open again as she breathed out slowly. She was here for answers, not for memories. She had grown to accept that she had these… abilities. But she couldn't even begin to understand what they were, where they came from, or even what to call them. If anyone would be able to help her, it would be Marie. But first… she had to find her.

She took her first hesitant steps onto the campus grounds, determination written across her face. It had been years since she had been here, apparently, but the mental map of the university was still ingrained within her mind. She would have no trouble finding what she was searching for… probably.

The incident happened in the psychology building, and although she remembered where that particular building _was_ , she had only been inside a few times. Marie's specialty was psychology, she had been in that building tons of time. But, despite that, she walked towards the building in question, knowing that she may be wandering around the building suspiciously for quite some time.

And she was hesitant to ask for help as well. The multitudes of people walking past her caused a spike in anxiety. She licked her lips to calm herself, if she got too nervous, she could lash out. She didn't _want_ to kill more people.

She entered the building without anyone giving her a second glance. No one seemed to notice the girl, either that or they just didn't care. She paused in the entryway, admiring the beauty and size of the building. Paintings and pictures lined the walls, which stretched two stories off the ground. A large, winding staircase sat in the center of the room, leading students up to the higher-level classes. There was also a staircase that led down underground.

She shut her eyes and tried to remember where the lab Marie worked at was located. Was it above ground? Below ground? _On the ground?_ She couldn't… remember. She concentrated, clenching her hands into fists, on the day her sister brought her into the building. She tried to walk through the building in her mind… but found the picture blurry and full of static.

"Uh… are you all right, miss?" a voice brought her out of her attempt to remember, causing her eyes to snap open. She turned her head to see a tall Indian student staring at her, hand outstretched as if to touch her.

"Yeah… I'm… just… trying to remember where I was supposed to go," she sighed. There was something odd about this student, something that set him apart from all the others… and from anyone else she had ever met. But she couldn't quite place what was different…

He perked up, "Oh, I can help with that. What are you looking for?" He flashed her an award-winning smile, but it did not help put her mind at ease.

"I was, uh, just trying to find a lab… I couldn't quite remember where it was," she said slowly. She wasn't sure how to explain the situation. She knew, from her encounter with Major Waters, that both Dr. Freeman and Marie had left Cal-tech mere days apart after whatever had happened to her. She was unsure if anyone here would actually remember the accident…

"Do you remember what they are researching?" the student asked. And yet another concern. The military had no idea what they were researching… how would this student know?

She swallowed slowly and shook her head, "Uh… no… I don't remember." The smile fell from the student's face and was replaced with a deep frown. Maybe he wouldn't be able to help her… there was a good chance that she would have to walk all over the building to find what she was looking for.

But how would she know when she found it? Would she just _know?_ Or would she stumble past it and never realize it? The student seemed to take note of her dilemma. "You're not a student here," he said simply. It was not a question, just a statement of fact.

She shook her head. "I used to be… I'm looking for something, but I can't quite remember what it was," she admitted. She was still unsure how much she wanted to tell this guy. Trust no one, right?

The student narrowed his eyes at her. "I think I know what you seek," he sighed. Her eyes widened in surprise, _how could he know?_ The moment the thought crossed her mind, she could feel a _crawling_ sensation spread throughout her body and mind. She panicked, thinking that she was having another headache and yet another vision. But that was not the case.

 ** _Static_** _Purple_ _ **Static**_

 _That's what's wrong,_ she thought to herself. There was something off about the student for sure… he was glowing. A vague, purple tint surrounded his form, hardly visible, but it was there. And then, just like that, it was gone.

"I see… you have it too, don't you?" the student asked.

"Have what? I… don't understand," Mary said, licking her lips slowly. She was so confused… did the student know of her _abilities?_ Has it too… did he have the same abilities?

"ESP," the student answered simply. He seemed remarkably calm despite it all.

Her eyes widened, _is that what it's called?_ "Y-yes? Maybe? I'm… not sure," she managed to stutter out.

"Extrasensory perception, yeah… I think you do have it too," he mumbled to himself. He was quiet as he thought for a moment, clearly pondering what to do. He had met others with ESP before… but she was different somehow. She didn't seem to be aware of what she was. He looked up at her and said, "I felt you the moment you stepped on campus… you are much stronger than I am… how are you not aware of your power?"

"You… f-felt me?" she asked softly, ignoring his real question. Not ignoring, more like she didn't know the answer.

He shrugged as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "Yeah, Espers, as we're called, are highly attuned to the people around them… and especially to other Espers. Usually you can tell the strength of an Esper by how far away they can be felt," he explained.

"Oh…" she said softly. "I guess… is that a good thing? That you could f-feel me across campus?"

"Well it depends…" he started, "On the one hand, you're stronger than any Esper I've come across… on the other, you don't seem to have any control…" She blanched at his declaration of her lack of control. He was right… it was because she had no control that she killed people. It was because she couldn't control her apparently enormous strength that she will continue to kill people.

"Uh… you don't look, or feel, I should say, so good," he pointed out, that purple glow returning.

She took a few steps away from him, her eyes going wide. Panic coursed through her again when she felt the _crawling_ feeling return… she was afraid she was going to lash out at him. But the crawling sensation disappeared, and with it, the purple glow. "Y-you… you're reading m-my m-mind," she said softly.

He nodded slowly, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. "Yes… I am. Please… calm down, you… you're suffocating me," his voice was strained, as if someone was strangling him. Her eyes widened and she took a few more steps back, but it didn't seem to help much.

He started gasping for air, putting his hands around his throat as if someone was grabbing him there. Several people in the building clutched their heads as intense headaches started to set in. Many experienced ringing in their ears from the power Mary was putting off. "I… I can't… I can't stop!" she all but shouted.

He inhaled harshly, just barely able to breath, and managed to choke out, "Concentrate on one thought! One… image… a person… a place… anything!" She nodded and concentrated on his advice. Marie… her sister.

A clear picture of her sister floated through her mind, and she latched onto it, focusing every ounce of her brainpower on just thinking about her. She lost herself in that picture, so much so that she didn't notice the fear and panic leave her body, nor did she notice how her power vanished. The student dropped to the ground, gasping for air, and taking deep breaths. "Hey… snap out of it," he said, pushing himself up off the ground and walking towards her.

She blinked a few times as he waved his hand in front of her face. "Well… it looks like your problem is that your lack of understanding about your abilities causes them to react randomly when you're panicked," he sighed. "At least I think that's what's happening… your alpha waves expanded outwards quite a bit there…"

"My… what?" she asked. She understood the first part, though she wasn't sure if blaming it on a lack of understanding was fair. But she had no idea what he was talking about with "alpha waves."

"Uh… let's walk and talk," he said, pointing towards the staircase. "People are starting to give us strange looks…" He started walking towards the central staircase, with her following closely behind him. They took the staircase leading to the basement level. Besides the lack of windows, the basement looked the same as the ground floor.

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"The lab room you're looking for… it's down here," he responded, leading her further into the building.

"Oh," was her quiet response. He was helping her, he was what she was… why didn't she trust him again?

"Alpha waves are a type of brainwave responsible for some eighty percent of psychic powers," he explained as they made their way through the lower level of the psychology building. "They work in different ways depending on the Esper."

"Oh… is that what that purple glow is?" she asked.

"Yeah," was his response as he came to a stop in front of a steel door at the very end of the hallway they had been walking down. Her eyes widened when she saw the state of the door. There was a window, but it had been boarded up. There were multiple warnings on the door, several warning her that what was behind the door was dangerous, a biohazard warning, and even a warning claiming legal action if they entered the room. "Here it is."

The door seemed to be bolted shut and several wooden planks were set across the door, further implying that it should never be opened. "T-this… is what I'm looking for?" she asked nervously. She wasn't sure if she wanted to open the door.

"Yeah… I only got a brief glimpse of your mind, most of what was in there was locked up tight… but one thing shone through. _Bring me back to where it began,_ " he explained. "You aren't a natural Esper, are you?"

"I-I-I guess not…"

"No one is sure what type of experiment took place behind this door… they told us that it killed everyone involved. I see that that isn't true," he shook his head, looking at her. "The experiment was attempting to create Espers… wasn't it?"

She gulped audibly, "Are you going to tell anyone?"

He shook his head. "No one would believe me. There are rumors, of course," he said. "They said lots of people died, ones that weren't even in this room. And people were… effected by the experiment, even though they weren't even near this room… strange things. Even six years later, the rumors are going strong."

"Awakening of psychic powers in beings with high latent ESP rating," she whispered. His eyes widened as he looked at her. "That was the title of the experiment… headed by a man named Dr. Freeman. I… I was the test subject."

"… Wow, really? We were told that everyone involved with the experiment had died… that's the one thing everyone agrees on," the student said. "And the experiment was a success too… an artificial Esper."

"I… I guess so. Uh…" she trailed off, unsure of what to say. "I… I don't think I am the only success. Others survived too."

"And you're looking for them, right?" he asked, to which she only nodded in response. "Why?"

"My… my sister is one of them. I think that she can… help with my… current predicament," she sighed.

"Your lack of control, I presume," the student said. Again, he only received a nod in response. He rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Well… I can't really help you get in there. It's locked up pretty tight. And I don't know what you expect to find anyways."

"I don't know either," she all but whispered, reaching out for the door handle. "But I have to try, at the very least."

"I… it's labeled biohazard for a reason, you know," he said as she touched the door handle. "People who go in there die from an overload in alpha waves. The door is lined with lead, so the waves can't reach us out here…" but it was too late, she had touched the door handle.

Her eyes widened and her pupils dilated. Then she screamed.

 _The light was blinding in the small lab room. Well, small was an understatement. Crowded and cluttered might be a better one. Many, many different machines and equipment dotted the room, and in the center was a large operating table. One that I was being strapped into to. I grunted as the straps were secured._

 _I could see the reassuring face of my sister looking down at me as I lay on that operating table. "It'll be fine, Dr. Freeman is a professional," she said over and over again. I believed her, though I could still feel the nervousness welling up within me. They had only told me what they were trying to do… not how they were going to be doing it._

 _The kind face of my sister disappeared and was replaced with the impassive stare of Dr. Freeman. It wasn't like I_ _ **didn't**_ _trust him. There was something… about him that demanded trust. Demanded that I do as he said. I didn't know what it was, and a part of me demanded that I didn't question it. When my sister came to me asking me to take part in an experiment, I was hesitant… but the moment Dr. Freeman entered the room to try and convince me, I had changed my mind._

 _"_ _This should only take a moment… we'll be able to tell if it worked immediately after the process is complete," he said to me. I nodded to the best of my ability. I trusted him. I closed my eyes as did he and felt him lay a cold palm on my head._

 _Then came that flash of purple…_

 _And everything went black…_

"Hey, hey!" the student shouted, shaking her. He had realized that he didn't know her name, nor her his, but he had to do something. She blinked a few times as she came to, only to see that she was in the middle of the lab room.

She looked around to see that all the lab equipment had been shoved to one side of the room, including the operating table… even though it had been bolted to the ground. She was standing in the center of the room, where the table had once stood. "What… what happened?" she asked, clutching her head.

"You ripped the door off its hinges, like some sort of superman," he said, still in disbelief. He pointed over to the discarded door, lying against one of the walls of the room. "How did you do that?"

She shook her head, "I… don't remember doing that. I have no idea… how I managed to do that."

"Well, something happened to you, you were completely unresponsive," he explained, "I was shaking you for a good minute before you finally came to. What happened to you?"

"I had some sort of… vision," she admitted.

"A vision, huh?" he sighed. "Well… I don't know why this was a biohazard in the first place. I don't sense… anything here. If it really was contaminated, then it's been cleaned since then."

"I… I didn't see what I wanted to see," she admitted. She saw nothing of importance. Or, rather, she saw something she already knew. Nothing that would hint at where Marie might be now… or how she came into contact with Edward King. She only had one lead left.

"What's your next move?" the student asked quietly. This girl… was very interesting. Fascinating, even. And he wasn't sure why he was even asking… but…

"I have somewhere else that I can look… but I really don't want to go, and it's really far away…" she sighed. "And I don't think I could afford it, even if I _wanted_ to go."

"Oh," the student said. He thought hard for a minute or two as Mary just stood there in silence, hoping for another vision of some sort. Eventually, he let out a loud sigh and said, "My name is Aziz."

"Oh… I'm Mary," she said in response, accepting the handshake when he offered it.

"Look… I'm really bored here. My… _abilities_ make it so that I don't even really need to study, or go to class, I can just _take_ the information from the professor's minds. I…" he trailed off. "I wanna help you find your sister. Plus, not to mention the fact that I have some experience with containing psychic power… and you're very dangerous. I can keep you from exploding… I think."

"Oh," she said softly. "I… I think that might be for the best. I don't want to hurt anyone else. Can you really keep me from killing people around me?"

"Yeah, I think so," he gave her a reassuring smile. Very similar to the one Marie had given her all those years ago. "So… where to? I might be able to spare a bit, to get us to wherever you need to go."

She took a deep breath and said, "To Jurassic World."

XXX

"And that's the situation," General Waters explained, arms folded in front of him. He had refused to sit, once again believing that this conversation wouldn't take long. He was flanked by two soldiers, each carried rifles slung around their shoulder.

"I cannot allow that," Masrani responded nearly immediately. They were in his office. He was sitting at his desk, Claire was at his side, though she was standing. She wasn't paying any attention whatsoever. She was lost in thought, still torn over the death of Rexy. The only animal she had always respected on the island.

"You don't have a choice. You will hand over the asset known as I-04," the General commanded.

"This island isn't under your jurisdiction, General," Masrani growled in response. Isla Nublar wasn't technically a United States territory, it was an independently owned island. Which meant the military couldn't just come and take what they wanted.

"You understand that we have grounds to enact sanctions against Jurassic World, correct?" the General threatened.

"What grounds?"

"The events of last year's… King Incident has been brushed to the side due to the fact that no patrons had died, however, Edward King is a wanted terrorist, suspected of stealing classified material and assets. If it were to be discovered that you harbored this known criminal, or had dealings with him, we would have grounds to close Jurassic World, arrest you, and take control of all your assets," the General explained.

"Why now? Why not do this from the start?" Masrani complained. It didn't make any sense, King disappeared a _year_ ago, the incident was a _year_ ago.

"Certain complications have arisen that make this a priority. I'm sorry, Mr. Masrani… but you need to hand over the asset I-04," the General said.

"What complications?"

"That's classified," was the immediate response.

Finally, Claire spoke up, "What are you going to do with the asset? Why do you need it?" Although she had spaced out there for a moment, she remembered why they were here.

"That's also classified, I'm afraid," the General sighed.

"We have a right to know what you're going to do with our animals," Claire hissed in response. The military still had no authority here! They were just threatening to shut down Jurassic World. She and Masrani at least had the right to know.

The General ground his teeth together, but eventually gave in. "We have reason to believe I-04 is in danger. We are taking it to the states to put it into protective custody," he explained.

"Danger?!" Masrani yelped. "What danger?"

"It's a matter of national security, I cannot tell you exactly _what_ is threatening your assets. But I-04 is indeed _in danger_ and would be much safer under military control," he said. "Please hand over I-04, so that we may place it in protective custody."

"No," Masrani said bluntly. "The asset is plenty safe here. If you're so worried about our animals, then we'll increase security at the paddock."

"The asset is not safe here!" the General resisted the urge to bang his hand on Masrani's desk. "No matter how much security you put around I-04… it will not protect it."

"If you're so certain that the asset is in trouble, how confident can you be that _you_ can protect I-04?" Claire asked.

"We will be placing I-04 in a secure, top secret location, only known by those working there and myself. It will be guarded twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. It will be well taken care of, until we can be assured that it is no longer in danger," the General explained.

Masrani growled to himself. He _still_ didn't know what the danger was. He didn't understand why the military was _just now_ worried about the asset. _What did they find in its blood?_ he wondered briefly, before turning back to the General and saying, "I disagree. The asset's mother will be more than capable defending its hatchling. Good luck taking it from her."

The General let out a tired sigh, "Very well, Mr. Masrani, you have left me no choice. I do not have the authority to take the asset by force, but I will be changing that fact. Until such time, I will be sending more troops here to assist your Asset Containment Unit in securing the asset."

He walked out, the two soldiers that had followed him in, followed him out. Masrani took a deep breath in frustration, they could do nothing to prevent the General in taking I-04. "Go find Dr. Bell… try and figure out why he wants the asset… I will make preparations to increase security at the Indominus paddock," Masrani sighed.

XXX

Owen let out a loud yawn and leaned back in his chair. He just wasn't sure what to think. One moment, everything seemed fine. The next… not so much. He had gotten the news that Rexy had passed away last night, and it was hitting him hard. It was hitting _all_ of them hard, not just him.

Although Saber seemed impassive to the entire ordeal, Owen suspected that she was just pretending not to care. All she had said was that she had witnessed Rexy's death, but gave no other details beyond the fact that Rexy had passed in peace. Rexy's death saw an increase in attendance at her shows, probably because she was the closest thing to Rexy.

"Hey… are you all right?" Sam's voice cut through his train of thought. He glanced across from the table to see her staring at him with a raised eyebrow. They had decided to catch lunch together, and the food had just arrived. And he had not noticed.

"I'm fine," he said, checking to make sure everything they ordered was all there. It was.

"If it makes you feel any better, Rexy's successor will be hatching tonight… you're free to come by and watch, if you want," she said, taking a sip of her drink.

"I might just take you up on that," he responded. She managed a small chuckle, despite the depressing implications. The duo lapsed into silence after that remark, quietly eating their lunch.

Owen had finished his lunch by the time Sam spoke up once again. "How are things between you and Blue?" she asked. He winced involuntarily, it was one thing that Rexy had died. It was another when Blue refused to even show her face. "That bad, huh?"

It _was_ bad… very bad. "I… I can't find her. She just _vanished_ ," Owen grumbled. He was still torn about what to do with the Raptor… but he had to do _something_. And he could do nothing until he found her. Today had just been an extremely unlucky day.

Sam rolled her eyes in response, "Yeah, that sounds about right. I wouldn't want to talk to you either after what you did."

Owen gave her an incredulous look, "Why are you taking _her_ side?"

"Oh, I don't know, maybe because I'm not an _idiot!_ " she growled. "You already admitted that you fucked up, you should be taking her side too. Maybe if you had an ounce of brain cells, you'd have realized that _in the first place._ "

"Okay, I take offense to that," Owen sighed, "And yeah, maybe you are more Raptor than I am… but that doesn't mean you should just _abandon_ me! Saber's already done that… she refuses to help find her."

"Well… what do you want _me_ to do about it?"

Owen thought for a moment, before saying, "You could at least help look for her… maybe help talk some sense into her."

"No, Owen, there will be no _talking sense_ into her. She's a Raptor, not a person," Sam sighed. "You only have two options… and I would suggest deciding which one now _before_ you go out and find her… save yourself the trouble, I would think."

"I'm not going to have sex with Blue!" Owen growled. At that moment, he was thankful the restaurant was nearly empty. The few odd looks he received he could easily ignore. Sam paid the other patrons equally less mind, as she continued to glare at Owen.

"Then don't bother looking for her," Sam sighed. "If you aren't going to give her what she wants, then she's not going to just forgive you."

He put his head in his hands and resisted the urge to bang his head against the table. "I… just don't know what to do," he groaned.

"I told you. You have two options, find Blue and give her what she wants, reconcile with her, and live happily ever after. Or don't. Simple as that," she waved his concerns off as if they were nothing.

"How are you okay with this?" he asked, removing his head from his hands. "Isn't there… something between us?"

She snorted, "Is there?" He gave her a confused look, clearly not knowing the answer to her question. She sighed in response, "Owen… do you really think I'm worried about competition _from a Raptor?_ "

"Oh."

She rolled her eyes again. "To be honest… I understand what's going through Blue's mind right now. Must be the season… something's definitely messing with my head lately," she admitted.

One of his eyebrows arched as he asked, "Really?"

She grinned at him, "Oh yes… I can feel it now. The liquid fire rushing through my veins. It's… so distracting."

He couldn't help but chuckle, "Does that mean you would bed me if given the chance?"

Her grin quickly turned feral. "I might just take you up on that," she said, her voice taking on some of her Raptor qualities. He gulped in surprise, he hadn't expected that answer. She let out a hissing chuckle, silencing him before he could make a comment on her response.

 _Better to find something else to talk about,_ he groaned inwardly. This usually didn't happen to him. He was the one to fluster others, not be flustered himself. _Maybe this has something to do with the whole Blue ordeal,_ he mumbled to himself. He perked up when he realized that he had forgotten to ask her something. "Hey… why did you need Saber's hatchlings' blood?"

She growled quietly, but leaned back in her chair with a sigh, almost disappointed that he didn't bite at her suggestion. _Was she being serious?_ he wondered, but didn't have time to do much more, as she answered him with, "Masrani ordered a blood sample be taken."

"Oh… why would Masrani want a blood sample be taken? Haven't you taken plenty of blood samples?" he asked, now intrigued. There was something she wasn't telling him.

She didn't respond immediately. Eventually, she decided that it wasn't worth keeping it a secret from Owen. "Fine. The military ordered Masrani, who in turn ordered me to take a blood sample," she admitted.

"The military?" Owen's eyes widened. "What would they want with the hatchlings' blood? Wouldn't Saber be more valuable?"

"Who knows. I was ordered to take a blood sample, and I did, my job is done for all I care," she sighed, cracking her neck.

Owen licked his lips slowly before saying, " _Is_ there something in their blood that might warrant military intervention?"

"There are a lot of things in their blood, Owen," she snorted. "But they won't find anything unless they know specifically what they're looking for."

Owen leaned in closer, "So there _is_ something that would warrant military intervention. Should I be concerned?"

Sam leaned in as well. "Only if they find it," she hissed.

"Find what?" Owen asked.

She lifted her head and looked around, checking to make sure no one could hear them. "You know how there's human DNA in the Indominus?" she whispered.

"Yeah?"

"Do you know who's it is?"

"It's… it's Dr. Wu's, right?" Owen asked.

She nodded in confirmation. "Dr. Wu's DNA is in Saber… and two of her hatchlings."

He reared back in surprise. "Only two? Which one doesn't have his DNA? Whose DNA is it?" he asked, quite a bit louder than before.

 _"_ _Shh!"_ she hissed, "This is classified, okay? Just between you and me… not even _Masrani_ knows." He nodded in response, understanding the gravity of the situation. There was an unknown DNA signature in one of the hatchlings… and the military might be after it. "I don't know whose DNA it is… but it's in Free."

XXX

Ila rubbed her eyes tiredly as she watched the soldier work. Three days had passed since they had arrived at the compound and she had not left the red-eyed soldier's side. The other soldiers had scattered, only showing up every once in a while to see if the red-eyed soldier needed help. He never did.

The soldier was… an anomaly to say the least. He didn't sleep… he didn't eat… he didn't rest. The man in the black suit had come by several times with food for her, but the red-eyed soldier never asked for anything. Never once even looked at her food. It was as if he was some sort of robot, constantly working, never tiring.

And he was _building_ something. She wasn't sure what it was, as he refused to explain. But he had taken her into the lab building of the former InGen compound and neither had left since. He had… removed the steel counters from their foundations and arranged them so they formed some sort of altar at the end of the room, away from any doors or windows.

Her job wasn't to help him. Her job wasn't even to prevent the animals from coming close to the compound. She wasn't sure what use she was to the red-eyed soldier. The soldier had ignored her each time she tried asking. She wasn't entirely sure what he was doing to begin with. He showed up on this island, _her_ island, took her captive, made a base out of an InGen compound, and… then builds something? It didn't make any sense to her.

She watched him carefully, now suddenly interested in exactly what he was doing. She briefly wondered if she pestered him enough if he would finally tell her what he was building. But she quietly observed him, deciding to save the questions for if she couldn't ascertain what he was constructing.

She watched him tear large sheets of metal into strips, before weaving those strips together. She watched him for some time, her eyelids starting to droop by the time he had finished constructing what seemed to be a steel, chain-linked fence. She blinked rapidly, confused, when he lifted the fence. It was _massive._

Had she spaced out? She glanced at the clock and realized that she had indeed spaced out. She had stood there, staring at him, for nearly five hours. The steel fence was nearly as long as the room was wide. _A good ten meters long, at least_ , she figured. She watched as he bent the fence in on itself, connecting the two ends so that it formed some sort of cage.

He lifted the cage up into the air and set it down around four steel poles that he had driven into the ground with his monstrous strength. On the first day, he had found a variety of steel rods that he had sharpened into metal stakes. Four of those rods were placed in the ground with the cage wrapped around it… she wasn't sure what had happened to the other ten.

He nodded to himself, his mock cage complete, and set to work doing something else. She couldn't contain herself anymore… she had to know. "What's the cage for?" she asked. She gulped when he paused in his step, but didn't turn to face her.

"My prize," he responded, vaguely as always.

"What prize?" she pressed onwards. She had already opened her mouth, she might as well keep talking. It would at least prevent her from falling asleep.

"You'll soon find out."

She crinkled her nose at that response. Deflection after deflection, he would never _just_ tell her. Or anyone else, for that matter. He started moving again, walking over to the pile of clutter against one of the walls, and digging through it. As she watched him sift through the pile of randomness against the wall, she saw the tattoo on the back of his neck on full display for her.

He had taken off his military jacket a few hours after he had started working. Whether he actually felt hot and it bothered him, or if it simply slowed him down, she could not tell why he removed it. The jacket covered the back of his neck, as well as his arms where the rest of the tattoos were located, without it on, she could see them. She licked her lips slowly as she considered asking another question, wondering if he'd give her a real answer.

"What does T5721 mean?" she asked softly, giving in to the curiosity once again. A vague answer was better than just not asking, right? And T5721 was the only thing he was called by. He gave no name, neither first nor last, and the other soldiers only referred to him as such. She wanted to know what it meant.

He paused again. "It's my serial number," he explained, going back to the clutter again, still not turning to look at her.

"For what?" she asked innocently, waltzing over to his cage to inspect his handiwork. He had done a good job, there were no gaps, nor breaks in the fence. Shrugging to herself, she sat down, back against the wall, right next to the cage.

"The experiment…" he trailed off, pausing again. She raised her eyebrow… although vague, it was an actual answer. _So he was a part of some experiment…_ she thought to herself.

"What experiment?" she asked, testing her luck. He had never actually lashed out at her, though she doubted he needed to. His very touch had… _done_ something to her. And she knew that he would do it again, if provoked. But she wanted to test her limits… for all she knew… she would be stuck with him for the rest of her life.

"Irrelevant," he growled, going back to digging in the mess against the wall, opposite of the cage. "The experiment is over and I escaped. That's all there is to it." He pulled something out of the clutter and set it down next to him.

Her eyes widened when she recognized the black box, it was a battery. And a big one too. "Do you have a name other than T5721?" she asked carefully, noticing that her last question had gotten a rise out of him, she needed to be cautious.

"No," he responded, pulling another black battery out of the pile.

"Why not?"

"Because…" he trailed off, adding another battery to the pile. He turned to glance at her with those blood-red eyes, causing her to swallow in apprehension. He wasn't glaring at her… just _staring_ , as if wondering why she cared. "I cannot remember what my real name was."

"Oh," she said quietly as he pulled out yet another battery. Now with four batteries, he pulled free some cables and picked up the batteries, easily balancing the load in his arms as he walked over to the cage.

He sat down in front of the cage, careful to give her space, and began wiring the batteries together. She watched him work with a raised eyebrow, but figured, because he was being generous at the moment, she should keep asking questions. "How old are you?" she asked, leaning forward slightly.

He was much younger than all the other soldiers, the youngest seemed to be in his thirties, the oldest seemed to be in his sixties. He barely looked twenty. And he said he had been a part of some experiment, and that he had escaped. "I don't remember," he said, connecting three of the four batteries together.

"How can you not remember how old you are?" she asked incredulously. His name, she could understand… but his age? How does someone forget that?

"I was in cryogenic slumber for an unknown amount of time," he admitted slowly, once again pausing in his work, just before connecting the last battery in the series. "I don't know how long I was out."

She looked down at her feet, suddenly unsure of herself. She didn't quite understand why he was being so open suddenly, nor why she felt the sudden urge to keep asking questions. "When you say _escape_ … you mean…"

A small, feral grin rose on his face as he finished connecting the last battery. "I was awoken a year ago, when your father broke into the compound I was being kept at. They thought I would fight him off. They were… sorely mistaken," he chuckled.

"Is that why those soldiers are scared of you?" she asked. "I looked in their minds… they don't follow you out of respect, or because you are a commanding officer… they're afraid."

"And they should be," he snarled, connecting the batteries to the metal of the cage. "I can feel it, they think they can betray me when I receive my prize… they will find out the hard way that I cannot be killed… not by them."

"You… you killed their comrades. Their friends," she accused, trying hard not to tremble. Whether from fear or from anger, she couldn't tell. And she couldn't let him know either.

"Necessary losses, my dear Miss King," he grinned.

"Don't you feel some empathy? How can you just kill hundreds of people like that?" she asked, clenching her fist. He was giving her answers, so she would keep asking questions. Even if she didn't like the answers, the better she understood this… _psychopath_ , the easier she'll be able to run from him.

"I lost the ability to feel empathy when they _took my soul_ ," he growled. "You… understand now, don't you, Miss King? What it feels like to be soulless. When I… touched you… you felt that void, did you not? You felt lost to the world, hollowed out, and completely alone. That's how I live… that's what I am."

She felt a shiver go through her spine as she remembered what it was like to be touched by him. _That's… how he feels all the time?_ she wondered to herself. "Then… I… I don't understand," she admitted.

He growled something inaudible before scooting closer to her, still careful not to touch her. "That's because you don't know what it's like to have your soul forcibly removed from your body… not just suppressed, as my touch does to you. You don't know what it's like to be torn asunder… to have your soul _ripped_ from your mind and _shattered_ into a million pieces!"

"No… I don't know what that's like," Ila admitted. "But that… that doesn't justify killing those people. Nor the ones you're going to kill… to get whatever your _prize_ is!" She crossed her arms and leaned back against the wall, hoping he wouldn't lash out at her.

"Doesn't it? I've died a _thousand_ deaths over the course of _years_ ," T5721 hissed. "And now I feel _nothing_ … for my soul is gone." Her eyes widened when she realized what he was talking about… what his _prize_ was. "All I want is my soul back… is that too much to ask, Miss King?"

She stared into his red eyes, unable to tear herself away. Was this fear? Or understanding? She was unable to bring herself to answer him, she had not a voice to speak with. _Is_ that too much to ask? _Is_ it enough to justify his actions? _Should_ he be allowed to take his soul back? She licked her lips and opened her mouth to finally respond, but she never got the chance.

"Ila! I brought you… a… sandwich…" the man in the black suit walked into the room to see the red-eyed soldier cornering Ila against the wall. He was threateningly close to her and his mouth was pulled back to show a grin full of sharpened teeth.

But the moment James walked into the room, the soldier looked away from Ila, giving her enough time to slip away from him, and rush over to the man in the black suit. _Was he going to kill her?_ he wondered to himself as Ila took the sandwich from him and bit down into it vigorously. "Thanks," she mumbled as she continued eating.

T5721 didn't address him, sending him only a single, blazing glare, before turning to what seemed to be a cage near the back of the room. He watched with a raised eyebrow as the soldier reached out slowly, and touched the steel cage. To James' surprise, the soldier jerked hard, practically launching himself away from the cage and landing on the floor, seemingly knocked out.

Ila turned to see T5721 land on his back, concern suddenly rising in her features. But she beat that concern down… she was his prisoner, she shouldn't be concerned for him. _Is he dead?_ James wondered, only briefly, as the soldier quickly righted himself. T5721 cracked his neck and turned to the duo, expression once again blank. James' eyes narrowed as he saw the batteries that had been wired to the cage.

"Come," the soldier ordered as he walked passed the duo. Ila finished her sandwich and reluctantly followed him, James close behind her. For the first time in three days, she exited the lab building. They made their way towards the main building in the complex, entering to find the soldiers already waiting for him.

They saluted him, though reluctantly, as he passed, but he paid them no mind. Ila figured that it was just ingrained within their minds to salute as their commanding officer passed them by. Even if they didn't consider him in charge of them. James nodded to the soldiers, to which they nodded back, before they dropped their salute.

The red-eyed soldier made his way to one of the many computers in the main building, sitting down in front of it, before pulling up an internet browser. Ila stood behind him, trying to figure out what he was doing. The soldiers and James strode into the room and gathered around the computer to watch T5721 do whatever he was doing.

A few minutes passed as the soldier clicked through a webpage and typed a few things in. Ila looked over at a nearby printer as paper started to be fed through the machine. The soldier stood, still silent, and walked over to the printer as two pieces of paper made their way through the machine. "What did you do?" she asked.

"My friends…" the soldier started, taking hold of the first sheet of paper and passing it to Ila. "Tomorrow, we make our way towards our prize."

The soldiers nodded solemnly, none of them looked particularly excited, not even T5721. "What's the plan, then?" one of the soldiers asked as he took the other sheet of paper and handed it to Ila as well.

"The ten of you, plus Ila's bodyguard, will make your way, undercover, to the most northern part of the island, where you will land and wait for further instruction. Ila and I will be landing on the island as paying patrons to scout the area," he explained.

Ila cocked an eyebrow and looked at the two pieces of paper he had handed her. Sure enough, they were Jurassic World tickets. Her eyes widened, however, as she read her name. _Ila Knight,_ she thought to herself… _so he's using an alias for me._ Now curious as to what name he had chosen for himself, he looked at his paper.

 _Tristram Knight_

She was deaf to the other soldiers as they continued to ask questions, most of which _Tristram_ ignored. She wracked her brain as she tried to figure out if he had lied to her, or if this was just some random name. If it was the former, it raised the question of _why_ , especially if he knew that she would find out in this fashion. If it was the latter, then she had to ask _why he chose that name._ She knew what it meant.

"The paddock we are hunting doesn't have working cameras, I need to assess it personally to decide how we are to attack," T5721 explained, finally silencing the questions. "Now…" he grinned, revealing his sharpened teeth, "To Jurassic World."

 _It meant sorrow._

XXX

 **Well, there ya go. Fair warning… I have never been to Cal-tech… so I made up what it looked like. Sorry to anyone who goes there, and happens to have been in the PSYCH building, and knows it (probably) doesn't look as I described it.**

 **But, besides that, interesting chapter, eh? So, both Mary and T5721 are converging on Jurassic World, just as I said they would. And we learn that the military wants I-04… is it really just to protect the asset? And we learn there's something off about Free… I wonder whose DNA is in him… well, hopefully this chapter has lined up enough pieces for you all to start guessing at what's going to happen. In any case, next chapter may very well be when the shit hits the fan… stay tuned until then!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 6 - Hunger:

Author's Note:

 **Finally, I've been waiting a long time for this eventuality. T5721, or as he named himself, "Tristram," is finally heading towards Jurassic World. And so is Mary. And we sort of know what they're both looking for. Salvation and answers. So, please, enjoy!**

XXX

It was as if the world turned gray the moment he stepped on the island. The typical blue sky and sunny days Jurassic World was known for had been swallowed by clouds, painting the skies a dull color. It was shockingly cold today for an island so close to the equator, Ila could hardly stand it. And yet, she did not shiver as she stood next to the red-eyed soldier.

He waded through the crowd with practiced ease, setting a pace she could barely match, as the crowd kept trying to engulf her. She did not dare touch him, nor him her, lest she be swallowed into that black abyss once more. So, she did her best to keep up with him, but he didn't seem all too concerned about losing her.

It had crossed her mind to escape with the chaos, but she knew that her situation would only get worse when he found her. The island was small, and the only way off was on a boat. And it wasn't like she could track him with her powers, she wouldn't be able to see him coming.

She was still unsure of exactly why she was needed. He didn't make any attempt to keep track of her, he wasn't worried about her running away. Either he knew she knew he would find her… or he was just messing with her, and was keeping her with him as some sort of sick trophy. He had never once said how she would be useful to him… he had never even mentioned that she _would_ be useful to him. She had just assumed… he needed her for something. But what that _something_ was, she didn't know.

Finally, the crowd broke and she was able to catch up to him once again. She pulled up beside him and looked up at him. He didn't bother acknowledging her presence, or that she had been missing for several minutes. He was too busy staring at the people. He stared intently at each face for hardly a fraction of a second before his gaze flicked to someone or something else.

She knew _why_ he was here. He was scouting for the rest of his troops. She wasn't sure what he was _looking_ for, but she at least knew why he was here. Her eye twitched when her stomach growled. Sighing softly, she said, "T-Tristram?" as if testing the name out on her tongue.

He didn't respond for a moment, as if he was unused to being called by that name, but he eventually tore his gaze from the seemingly endless crowd and looked down at her. "Yes?" he said.

"I'm… hungry," she admitted. It was nearing noon and she had not eaten since last night.

"Right," he said slowly, as if finding the concept inconceivable. He had forgotten that she needed to eat. He glanced around Main Street until he spotted a simple restaurant. "There," he pointed at the building and started walking towards it.

She followed behind him, a little surprised that he would actually feed her. Maybe they were ahead of schedule and he could afford to waste some time. They entered the crowded establishment and attempted to locate a table. Spotting an empty one in the back, she pointed towards it.

He followed her finger and nodded silently. The table was for a group of four, but neither of them cared. It was the only empty table in the restaurant. The duo made their way to the table, only for two others to sit down at it before they could. A dark-haired woman with blue streaks in it and an Indian man with purple eyes.

The monster that stood beside her snarled something incomprehensible, but she only frowned. She could feel it. From both of them. More so from the woman than the man, but it was within him as well. She shivered as it surrounded her, but she shrugged it off. "Oh… sorry, were you going to sit here?" the woman asked kindly.

"No… it's all right, we'll just find somewhere else to eat," Ila responded, trying her best to smile. Although the woman was smiling back at her, the man was gaping at her. The monster growled again, glancing down at her, as if asking if she would rather him remove the two from their seats.

"Hold on, this table is for four, you don't have to go," the woman said. The man gave her an odd look, but let out a sigh in defeat when the woman glared at him. "Go ahead, have a seat."

"No, No, we wouldn't want to impose…" Ila shook her head.

"We insist! Please, take a seat," the woman said.

"No… I don't think that's a good idea. We'll just go somewhere else, right… Tristram?" she asked, looking up at her captor. But he was paying zero attention to her. Instead, he was caught in an intense glaring match with the man who sat across from the woman.

 _He's figured it out,_ she realized. While Tristram had no way of detecting psychics, the Indian man could clearly tell there was something wrong with the red-eyed soldier. "Is there a problem, man?" the Indian man growled, narrowing his eyes at the soldier.

 _Oh no…_ Ila's thought train trailed off as Tristram stepped closer to the table, baring his teeth as he did. "I don't know… is there a problem?" he growled. The Indian man blanched as the monster approached him.

"Brother…" she said slowly, hoping to call him off. The word was sour on her tongue, but it was too late to protest. The soldier's head snapped back to glare at her, but he halted in his step. The woman only stared at the two of them, not quite sure what was going on.

"I'm sorry… where are my manners?" the soldier growled. "You offer to share your table, and you don't even know us. Allow me to introduce myself… my name is Tristram Knight, that's Ila Knight."

The man opened his mouth to respond, but the woman beat him to the punch. "My name is Mary. Mary Giddings!" she smiled and stuck her hand out. "The grumpy one is Aziz."

 _Uh oh,_ Ila realized too late that the soldier was going to touch the kind woman. She opened her mouth to shout something, but Tristram's hand closed around Mary's in a typical handshake gesture. "Very nice to meet…" the soldier began but paused in his words.

Ila watched, confusion spread across her face, as those red eyes widened and a tremor passed through his body. His jaw clenched as Mary cocked her head. "Is there something wrong?" she asked as he tore his hand away from her grasp and backed away.

"No… nothing at all," he muttered. He turned on his heel and said, "I think Ila is right… we should find somewhere else to eat. Sorry for interrupting your day."

"Wait! Are you sure that you don't want to stay? You're more than welcome…" she trailed off as Tristram walked away, Ila on his heels.

"What was that all about?" Ila asked as they exited the restaurant.

"Nothing," the soldier growled as he led them towards a different establishment. "I'm just… hungry." Ila's eyes widened as she followed the soldier.

XXX

"I wonder what that was all about," Mary muttered as she watched the two strangers walk out of the building.

"Who knows," Aziz muttered. He picked up a menu and held it up to his face. "That man… something's wrong with him, all right." He was sure _what_ that something was, however.

"I don't know," she sighed, picking up a menu as well. "His touch was a little cold, but other than that… he seemed normal to me." She looked over the menu and decided what she wanted for lunch. The place was packed, but she spotted a waitress approaching them as quickly as she could. "I'm more creeped out by the girl."

"Creeped out how?" he asked, setting down his menu as the waitress stopped at their table. The two of them ordered and waited for her to walk away before they continued the conversation.

"She just kept giving me… weird looks," Mary admitted.

"And she should. She's an Esper, like us," he muttered. "And she's young too… I don't doubt she's never seen another like her, so she was just confused. That's probably why she didn't want to sit with us."

"Was she afraid of us?" she asked, suddenly concerned. " _Should_ she be afraid of us?"

"Hmm?" he hummed as the waitress set down their drinks, before rushing off to other tables. "No… she wasn't afraid of us, nor should she be. I think… however… she _was_ afraid _for_ us."

Mary arched an eyebrow in confusion. "Why? That doesn't make any sense," she said. "I thought _I_ was the dangerous one."

"The man she was with… her 'brother' as she claims," he sighed. "There's definitely something wrong with him."

"How so? Is he an Esper too?"

"No… no… the problem is that I couldn't sense him at all," Aziz muttered, taking a sip of the soda he had been given.

"Is… is that a problem?" she asked, still confused.

"It is, actually," he growled. "An Esper, no matter how strong or weak, always leaves some sort of alpha wave tracer, even if they're suppressing their power, another Esper can sense them. When I tried to break into his mind, it wasn't there."

"Maybe his mind is just blank," Mary chuckled as she watched the waitress expertly navigate the busy restaurant, delivering to them their food. Clearly the restaurant was prepared to handle the lunch rush, the waitress hadn't even broken a sweat.

"That's not it. Even if he was shielding his mind, or if it really was just blank… I'd still be able to tell that _there was something there_ ," he growled, munching on a few fries.

"What are you saying? That he wasn't standing right there in front of us? I saw him _and_ he touched me… I felt him there," she explained, taking a sip of her drink.

"I know… it just doesn't make any sense," he sighed. The two delved into silence, absentmindedly watching the lunch rush and the skilled waitresses easily handling the crowds. He finished his meal long before she did, leaning back in his chair with a sigh as he waited for her to finish.

She swallowed and licked her lips before saying, "So what's the plan?"

"The plan?" he raised an eyebrow, "I tagged along to help you. This is _your_ thing… you should be the one with the plan."

"Well… I don't know what I'm doing," she said, "I told you exactly what was going on, everything you needed to know to help me, and dragged you here to do exactly that." She took another bite of her sandwich as she waited for his response.

He rolled his eyes. "Well… I did do a little research. One name you gave me stuck out above all the others. Dr. Gordon Freeman," he replied.

"Oh… what about him?"

He glared at her for talking with her mouth full, but he responded nonetheless, "Well, he was pretty famous back at Cal-tech for being… extraordinary, but he had disappeared after the 'accident' and no one had seen him since. But, I found out that he worked here at Jurassic World."

"Really? Where is he?" Mary said, finishing her sandwich. She took another drink to wash it down. The waitress came by not a moment later to hand them the bill, which Aziz reluctantly took. After all, she was low on funds.

"Dead," was the simple response. "And he's been dead for some time. Ever since you woke up, apparently." He paid with cash, leaving a hefty tip, and the two stood.

They walked towards the exit of the restaurant, carefully stepping past the crowds waiting for a table. They were nearly knocked over as several people all at once rushed the table they had just left, but they were stopped by the waitress, who picked up the bill and cleaned the table.

"Oh… what did he do here? Maybe that would be a good place to start," Mary suggested as they made it outside. It wasn't much less crowded outside. The only difference being the amount of space available.

"He was the Indominus trainer," Aziz growled as he was almost knocked over.

"Well… I guess we should try and catch the next show," she suggested as helped him keep his balance by grabbing his arm.

XXX

Loud stomps heralded the arrival of the white beast. Bursting free from the tree line, she let loose her mighty roar. Her jaws snapped shut with a loud _crack!_ as she turned her burning gaze towards the room full of people. She couldn't help but pulling her lips back in a wide smirk as she saw many of them with their hands slapped over their ears.

"There she is, folks!" Owen said as cheerfully as he possibly could. He stood inside of the viewing room with the massive crowd gathered around him, trying to get the best look possible out of the window. They watched as the massive Indominus marched into the clearing, her hatchlings following close behind her.

The crowd clapped and cheered despite the fears of hearing damage. Owen chuckled slightly at the crowd's enthusiasm. With Rexy gone, Saber was now the most popular attraction at the park… and she enjoyed the limelight. He began rattling off facts about the Indominus, being sure to mention the hatchlings as well.

He saw Saber approach the glass out of the corner of his eye. It was something that she had started to do every show. He never asked her why, for he already knew. It was a precaution… just making sure it was safe for her hatchlings.

He wanted to tell her to just relax. Of course, it was safe for her hatchlings. For one thing, they were in the paddock and everyone else was in the viewing room. Second, they'd have to get through mamma Saber first. And _that_ wouldn't end well.

But he knew she would never listen. She was too paranoid. Owen could only shake his head as the thought passed him by. If there was one thing he _never_ thought would describe the Indominus… it would be motherly. If her going right up to the glass to glare at the patrons made her feel safe, then he wasn't one to stand in her way. Not that he actually could.

She made her way slowly, taking her time to glare at each person as she walked by the huge glass window. Owen kept talking as he did. Once he was finished with his facts, and she was done with her screening, she would step back and he would release a cow into the paddock for her to kill. It was what they had started to do since the hatchlings had been introduced, and the crowd seemed to enjoy it. Especially being able to see Saber close-up.

It was her twelve thirty showing, her second of the day. She still had one more to go at four, just before the dinner rush. Owen continued to talk about Saber, delving into what little they knew about her genetic make-up, but he still covered the speculations. He got so into the swing of it, his mind began to wander, despite the fact that he was still speaking. Though it sounded more like he was reading off a teleprompter.

His mind drifted to Blue. Even though Sam had told him his only two options just yesterday, he was still conflicted about what to do. He didn't really understand himself _why_ this was so difficult. He knew what he wanted. He wanted Blue back. And he knew what Blue wanted. Blue wanted Alpha. So why was this so difficult?

 _In reality, I only have one choice,_ he sighed to himself. Then why was he so hesitant? _Is it fear?_ he wondered. No, fear didn't make any sense. He had fucked dozens of human women… why would a Raptor be any different? And it wouldn't be _him_ per say… it would be Alpha. Or was _that_ the problem? Alpha.

He was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't notice Saber had stopped behind him. Or that he had finished his spiel. The crowd was staring at him expectantly, waiting for him to continue the show. But something was wrong… Saber was still behind him, growling softly. Shaking his head, he glanced behind him to see Saber's burning glare focused at the crowd. _Did she find something that she thinks is a threat?_ he wondered.

He didn't have time to do much more than that. His lip curled as a strange scent reached his nose. It smelled of blood and decay. Whipping his head back around to the crowd, he searched desperately for the one carrying this awful smell, but there were too many people. It could be any one of them.

He heard Saber's growling increase in volume as she snarled, _"_ _ **Him! Him!**_ _Why is_ _ **he**_ _here?!"_ He turned back to stare at her in confusion, to ask what she meant by that, but it was far too late.

He barely had time to mutter, "Shit," before she slammed her claws as hard as she could into the glass, managing to cause cracks to appear, while her middle talon punched a hole right through the reinforced glass. She opened her maw as wide as she could and let loose her loudest, most terrifying roar. Owen barely had time to slap his hands over his ears to prevent him from going deaf. The others in the crowd weren't quite as lucky. The crowd collectively dropped to their knees from the pain, trying to do their best to block it out.

The lights flickered and sparked before going out completely, leaving the room completely dark. The few patrons who were recording their "up close encounter with the Indominus" had their phones and cameras go out as well. Owen gritted his teeth as she kept roaring, electricity starting to crackle around her body. Eventually, he too dropped to the ground, rolling onto his side.

He was the closest one to her, thus her roar hurt him the most. But eventually, she silenced herself. Not that the crowd realized it, as those who had not gone temporarily, or permanently, deaf, suffered from ringing in the ears. Owen's own, sensitive, ears were ringing loudly as well as he tried to push himself up. But his balance was off, and only succeeded in collapsing back to the ground.

But two guests remained standing. Owen could barely see them from his place on the ground, but he could tell one was a tall man wearing combat boots and the other was a young girl. He watched the man walk past him, his combat boot seemingly making no noise against the ground, though Owen could feel the vibrations as he passed. The little girl kneeled beside him.

He stared up at her, wondering what she was going to do. She placed a hand against his head and turned to say something to the tall man that he could not hear. The tall man must've responded with a command, for she turned back to him and mouthed, _I'm sorry,_ before everything went black.

"The others are still alive, what should we do about them?" Ila asked, standing, and walking over to the window next to Tristram.

"Ignore them… this was only supposed to be a scouting mission," he growled. He stood right up next to the window, so close his face almost pressed against the glass. Saber returned the gesture, lowering herself just slightly so he could stare into her great red eye.

"She says that she recognizes you," Ila translated for the white monster.

"Fascinating… we've never met before."

"She keeps repeating… you killed him… you killed him… over and over again. Does that mean anything to you?" she asked, giving the beast a concerned look.

"I've yet to do anything to her," Tristram chuckled. He placed his hand against the glass and allowed a feral grin to spread across his face. _"I've come for you."_ And then he laughed his bone-shaking laugh, causing the Indominus to break away from the glass and take several steps back.

A whimper escaped her lips as a tremor passed through her body. The grin only widened on the soldier's face as he saw this display, but he turned around and marched towards the exit nonetheless. "Come, Ila… we have work to do," he sighed. Saber could only watch as her living nightmare waltzed away.

XXX

"All right, Lowery, slow down," Claire let out a sigh. She had gone to control a few hours after the Indominus had lost her mind to see if anyone had any answers. Unfortunately, Lowery's mouth ran a mile a minute, leaving her lost in a sea of words and worry.

"I'm sorry Claire, but the Indominus… going a bit crazy is the _least_ of our worries," the computer geek explained, turning in his chair to stare up at her.

"Let's focus on one thing at a time," she sighed, "Starting with the Indominus."

"There aren't any cameras in her paddock, if you remember. They keep short-circuiting… no idea why. But, what I can tell you, is that when the Indominus lost its mind a good third of Main Street lost power," he said, tapping a few keys on his keyboard.

" _Another_ freak electromagnetic pulse?" Claire sighed. Although the EMP waves weren't exactly frequent, they did happen every now and then. And they always took a good chunk of Main Street's power with each one.

"Yeah, but more on that later. Owen tells me that Saber is fine, calming down at the moment… I don't think she's going to make her other shows," he explained. Claire rolled her eyes, that was _just_ what they needed. "She got really upset over one of the guests, I suppose… Owen didn't get a good look at one of them, but he said one was a little girl with violet eyes."

"Violet, huh?" she growled. "Well violet isn't exactly common… so I guess that we can put ACU on the lookout. What about the other one?"

"He said that it was a man wearing combat boots, but that's all he could tell before he blacked out," Lowery said. "And we have more major concerns than getting ACU to find these two. The extra troops that General said would be arriving soon are here, and they found out about the incident."

"Of course they did."

"They've surrounded the Indominus paddock and they're making it really difficult for ACU to get in and assess the situation," he said. Claire let out a sigh of defeat, there wasn't much she could do about the military. At least they were letting Owen through. "Claire… I'm not sure what's going on here, but I think you should let the military do their jobs. It looks like something tried to attack Saber."

"We don't know that," Claire growled. She didn't want the General to be right. When he came back with that court order… they would have no choice but to hand the hatchlings over. They couldn't contest it in court… not if their lives _really were_ in danger.

"I don't know, Claire. But the bad news doesn't stop there," Lowery said, swiveling back so that he was facing his computer.

"Of course not."

"Dr. Gerry called an hour ago," he started. "Someone broke into the vet building, stole supplies, and killed one of the vets." He tapped a few keys pulling up a picture onto the big screen at the front of the room.

Claire immediately covered her mouth and swallowed hard, hoping to prevent herself from throwing up. "Oh my god…" she trailed off as she stared at the picture. She couldn't tear her eyes away from the mess. It wasn't a pretty sight, to say the least. The female vet, though you could hardly tell from the picture. Someone had _eviscerated_ her, tearing her in two and splattering her blood across the room, leaving her corpse there to rot in what looked to be the vet supply closet.

"I know… it's too bad," Lowery sighed, clearly having seen the picture before. He didn't react to the violent scene in the slightest. "She was pretty hot."

"Lowery…" Claire warned, though she could barely talk without choking on her own saliva. "Take the picture down." Nodding, he followed her command, removing the picture from the big screen.

"A lot of chemicals were stolen. Dr. Gerry says that if whoever took them knew what he was doing, he or she could make one hell of a poison."

"Poison? How strong a poison?" Claire asked, suddenly concerned. Was this the start of a terrorist attack?

"Something that could kill a human on contact," he responded. "Though Gerry was insistent that the poison had to be _injected_ , so I don't think this is a terrorist attack," he explained, knowing what was on her mind, trying to put it at ease. It only partially worked.

"Put ACU on high alert… and try and get power back to Main Street and the cameras," she ordered. He nodded in return as he watched her march away. Though her posture showed her to be confident, he knew that underneath that façade, she was panicking even more than he was.

"Oh shit… I forgot to show her something," he muttered, but it was too late to call her back as she elevator doors closed.

XXX

Ila shivered as she waited in front of the Indominus paddock. The sky had gone dark a few hours before and the patrons had all left the island or gone to a hotel to spend the night. Tristram had abandoned her here so that he could fetch his soldiers, but she was not alone. No… she _wished_ she was alone.

She was surrounded by the corpses of US soldiers Tristram had slaughtered before taking his leave. She stood in a puddle of blood, staining her shoes as she trembled in place. _Their screams still echoed in her mind._ Their numbers were irrelevant, their weapons worthless, they could only watch as each of their comrades was murdered in cold blood by T5721's bare hands.

These were not the only murders she had witnessed today. He committed these atrocities as if they were nothing. He had added a vet and two ACU soldiers to his kill count, along with all the soldiers guarding the Indominus paddock. She didn't want to think of how long the list of deaths caused by him was.

But he had left her here with a purpose. She was supposed to prevent any more soldiers from setting up at the paddock. At least she was being _put to use._ Even if she was just a _place holder!_ She wasn't sure whether to be insulted or enraged. She decided on both as she stood there waiting for him to emerge from the darkness. The street lamps were still inactive and the temperature had only continued to drop throughout the day.

The sound of combat boots hitting the ground alerted her to their presence as the ten soldiers plus Tristram halted in front of her. She scanned the minds around her and realized something was wrong. "Where's James?" she hissed.

"Gone," was Tristram's simple response. He walked towards the massive doors of the Indominus paddock. Despite the darkness and the soldiers stumbling around him, he seemed to have no trouble navigating the sea of corpses, stepping over each one with ease.

"Gone? What do you mean gone!" she yelled.

"He escaped," the red-eyed soldier admitted. Ila's eyes widened in surprise. _James made it away?_ she realized. But dread settled in her stomach when she realized what would happen to him when Tristram found him. "It doesn't matter, we don't have time to go after him," the soldier interrupted her thoughts as he stopped in front of the huge doors.

Ila's heart leapt with glee, they were on a tight time schedule. Which mean James was probably going to be able to stay away. He would be fine… though she couldn't say the same for her. She licked her lips slowly when the red-eyed monster stepped up to the control panel and started fiddling with the buttons. Her eyes widened when she realized he was trying to open the doors.

 _The steel of the doors shuddered once before they began to move._

XXX

 **Yeah, the most exciting part is going to be saved until next chapter! I know, this was a bit of a short one, especially when compared to the other chapters, but I decided to separate the chapter that way we could keep a bit of tension, and of course, a small cliffhanger.**

 **We get to see a bunch of interesting things, though. We find out that Mary and Aziz arrive on the island at the same time as T5721 and Ila. And they meet in that restaurant, which I thought was an interesting scene overall. And we get an interesting reaction when Mary and T5721 touch… I wonder what that was all about… In any case, next chapter will have the explosive confrontation between Saber and T5721… but I wonder what that bit was all about where Lowery explained someone took** ** _more_** **chemicals from the vet building (I bet Gerry's pissed…)? All that and more, stay tuned until next time!**


	9. Chapter 9

Announcement:

 **Hey guys. I know this story has been on hiatus for quite a while… and I apologize for that. Unfortunately, I can't seem to work up the motivation to keep writing for this story. So… this is the official notice of discontinuation. I had thought that I could balance three stories at one, but I greatly misjudged how much time I would have to pour into my other two stories. And how much more I enjoyed writing for them. To tell you all the truth, I don't really like this story. I didn't really like Tedium, and I don't really like this story either. But there are at least a few of you who like this story, and Tedium, so I'm going to leave both of them up.**

 **So… I'm going to give everyone reading this an option. There is a chance… a** ** _very small_** **chance that I'll be coming back to this story. I don't know when, because right now, I'm pretty sure I won't be touching this thing again, but say, for instance, I start running out of things to write, I might come back to this while I think of something else to do. So… for those of you who wish to keep hoping I'll come back to this, read no further. For those of you who have no such hope, keep reading.**

 **XXX**

 **Because I'm going to spoil this story. IE: I'm going to tell you how it ends. We'll start with what this chapter was supposed to be, and go all the way to the end. Yes, I know, if I already know what I want to do, how can it be so hard to write? Like I said before, zero motivation to keep going. Anyways… this chapter was supposed to focus on T5721 managing to best Saber, putting her to sleep with the chemicals he stole from Gerry (and highly injuring Blue in the process), and taking all three of her hatchlings.**

 **Then we'd follow him, Ila, and the soldiers back to Isla Sorna, see him start to do weird things to the hatchlings. We'd also see Saber panicking and Owen doing his best to calm her, though he's also worried about Blue. Then he meets Mary, who obviously looks like her sister, and debacle ensues. General Waters would show up (along with Claire and Masrani) and explain a little bit more about T5721 (the tests, and what Dr. Freeman had to do with them. As well as what's driving him), before explaining that he had sent a drop team to Isla Sorna to get the hatchlings back (only he didn't plan on returning them to the park, which Claire was well aware of).**

 **She does her best to figure out what to do, but that's when the man in the black suit (James Cooper) shows up and reveals who he is (as he escaped from T5721 the night before). He explains that he knows the island, and where the hatchlings are located. He knows that the soldiers the General sent would only end up dying, but he would be able to get into the compound, talk down T5721's soldiers, and find Ila, who would be able to control the hatchlings long enough to get them out of the compound. So, he, Owen, Mary, Aziz, Hamada (who was dragged into it by Claire), and Sam all form a landing party and head out towards Isla Sorna, hoping to get there before the soldiers do.**

 **Then we cut back to T5721, who has been busy experimenting on the hatchlings. He seems to be looking for a particular one, which he eventually finds out is Free. He and Free begin arguing (important because none of the other hatchlings know that Free is talking, nor has Free said a single word until now. Meaning he and T5721 are connected somehow) before Ila walks in and interrupts them. T5721 gets to work making some sort of drug, mixing it with Free and Ila's blood, and zapping it with her powers. That's when the soldiers show up.**

 **Not just the soldiers the General sent, but also his own (who believe that they have the numbers to take him now, and are rebelling). He injects the drug into his system and slaughters the soldiers with psychic power (and I had a really good line for him too. "We have you surrounded," one of the soldiers said. "All I'm surrounded by is fear… and** ** _dead men,_** **" the monster replied. Ah, but once was, eh?). But the effects only seem to be temporary, and he loses his powers before he can kill the last one. So he has to do it the old-fashioned way.**

 **The landing party lands on Isla Sorna and began making their way towards the compound where they quickly find Ila and T5721, as well as the hatchlings (surrounded by dead soldiers, of course). A fight quickly breaks out, which T5721 is easily winning (knocking out Mary and Aziz with ease). But Sam manages to sneak passed the red-eyed soldier and free Ila to start extracting the hatchlings as Hamada, the man in the black suit, and Owen distract T5721. They manage to get out of the compound before Owen and Hamada are knocked out and badly injured, and Cooper is briefly incapacitated.**

 **Sam and Ila, with the hatchlings, run back to the boat with T5721 in pursuit. Ila tries to slow down the red-eyed soldier with a Ceratosaurus, but he manages to kill it somehow (the fight happens off-screen, but Cooper finds it with a badly damaged jaw and missing an eye). T5721 manages to catch up to the fleeing females just as they were getting the hatchlings onto the boat, but he is unable to stop them as Cooper appears not too far away and puts a shot through the soldier's shoulder. The two fight as Sam and Ila escape, but Ila still manages to see T5721 snap the man in the black suit's neck.**

 **Sam and Ila get back to the island safely, and put the hatchlings back with Saber. Masrani is obviously concerned with those they left behind, and that's when General Waters shows up again (pissed because his extraction failed), and explains how he's going to take control of the park and use it as a military task site in order to use the hatchlings as a trap to catch T5721. Masrani agrees when the General says he'll offer the hatchlings as a trade to T5721, Free for those the red-eyed soldier captured. Of course, the General planned on trapping T5721 and taking him into custody (as well as procuring those hatchlings as well).**

 **They manage to send a message to T5721, who obviously bites at the opportunity to recover Free. He has a brief chat with his prisoners, before realizing that** ** _Mary_** **is the key that he needs to perfect the drug he had used to temporarily return his psychic powers, not Ila (which was why when he touched her in chapter eight, he felt hungry again. He had briefly become whole once more). So he gathers up his captives and sets out for Isla Nublar, intent on springing the trap.**

 **He brings his captives into Saber's paddock and prepares to make the trade, with the exception that he keeps Mary. The General springs his trap, but T5721 fights through it. Realizing that he could just take what he wanted, he grabs Free and Mary and prepares to make off with the two of them. But Saber starts acting strange. She keels over, hitting the ground hard, before the other hatchlings start to do the same, as well as Aziz, Free, and Mary.**

 **T5721 ignores this and plans to just drag the two of them off, now just happy they weren't struggling anymore, but Mary breaks free of her chains and shoves the red-eyed soldier away. It turns out that the reason Saber collapsed was because Dr. Freeman's spirit left her mind, taking with it as much power as she could spare. Aziz and the hatchlings collapsed as well, because Dr. Freeman took their power too, and gave it all to Mary. Now bolstered with Dr. Freeman's spirit, Mary would be able to fight on par with T5721, eventually managing to break through the void around his mind, and shut his body down.**

 **But that would be it for Dr. Freeman as well, who had overexerted himself protecting Mary. His spirit fades forever, and the ones who had collapsed began to right themselves (though Mary passes out). The General takes the opportunity to lock T5721 up on the island, planning on taking him back stateside in a few days. T5721 was well and truly damaged, he can't respond to anyone, not even struggle when he was locked up. He only sat in his glass cage, staring listlessly at the wall.**

 **General Waters wasn't done yet, however. Where would any Jurassic Park story be if there wasn't some sort of military villain. Waters would try to threaten Masrani and Claire into taking the hatchlings by refusing to release his iron hold on the island (which was still a temporary barracks for soldiers, which shut the park down, and prevented revenue from flowing in. Eventually, the park would collapse, so Masrani had little choice). They finally relent and Waters is allowed to take the hatchlings. Saber is knocked out, and Sam and Owen were locked up when they protested. Mary tried to use her powers, but discovered she was too weak to stop the General.**

 **But that's when T5721 wakes up. Turns out, Mary managed to free his mind from the void, returning his powers to him. This is where we get a flashback to him as a child, running around with psychic powers, and causing mischief. The government targeted him because he was so open about his abilities, and brought him in for experimentation, where Dr. Freeman was the man in charge of the proceedings. The flashback ends and he breaks out of his prison and goes on a rampage.**

 **He makes it all the way to Saber's cage, slaughtering every soldier in his path. He finds General Waters and reveals a new power, Cryrokinesis, and kills him in a gruesome fashion (haven't quite decided how, yet, or if I was going to keep the Cryrokinesis). After saving the park and killing the soldiers, T5721 reintroduces himself as Tristram, taking on that name permanently, and decides that he wants to get as far away from Jurassic World and the United States government as possible. So he takes Ila, who becomes his protégé, and they leave Jurassic World mostly intact. Mary becomes the new Indominus trainer, Aziz goes back to California, Sam goes back to work, and Owen makes up with Blue (actually going through with mating with her) and dedicates himself to raising his hatchlings with Blue. Overall, a nice little ending, despite the blood still splattered all throughout the Innovation Center.**

 **In any case, that's all that I had worked out in my outline. Writing this all out did spark a small flame, but it's quickly gone out once more. I'm glad that this is all off my chest and you all know where this story was going. There's a good chance I'm not writing anymore Jurassic Park/World stories. But I'm not done writing permanently! If you all enjoy my writing and want to read something arguably better than Tedium and Sanguine, check out my Zootopia stories, or perhaps my Monster Hunter story! Vellichor29 signing off!**


End file.
